The Chronicles of Nico and Will
by CrypticCatalyst
Summary: Because Nico and Will were the puzzle pieces that you never thought would fit together, but did. Another clichéd Solangelo fic starting during Nico's stay at the infirmary and ending at who-knows-where. Hopefully, it will a bit different than the other ones you've read. Diverged from canon upon the release of the Hidden Oracle. Infrequent updates.
1. Chapter 1

Nico's POV

I was completely fine now. My powers were fully restored, as was my strength. But Will Solace refused to let me go.

"One more day." He commanded, eyes shining with laughter at my annoyance. "Doctor's orders." There was a hint of something in his smile, something I couldn't identify. A smile that made my heart pound a little faster. For the last two days, Will had been nagging me to eat, to stay in bed, to get some sunshine. And to everyone's surprise, including my own, all I did was grumble a bit under my breath in Italian, complying. Something of a friendship was forming between us. Will behaved towards me with a level of familiarity unrivaled by anyone except Percy and Hazel and maybe Jason.

"But I'm fine!" I protested. Only Will would argue with me, of course. Everyone else always kind of avoided me. I suppose I don't blame them. I wouldn't hang around the scary son of death either. I guess that Reyna, Percy, Annabeth, Jason, Piper, Hazel, and Frank are okay with me. Percy was cooler than I thought he would be about finding out that I was gay and that I used to have a crush on him. He proposed that we could start over as friends. On another note,I often wondered why Will wasn't afraid of me like most people. Another matter weighing on mind was Leo Valdez. I needed to find out what really happened. His death was different than any other I'd encountered. So basically, I had a ton of stuff to think about, including my future here in Camp Half Blood.

But for now, I was busy with something (or should I say, someone) else.

"No, you're not. You may feel it, but you're not free until I say so." Will countered. I couldn't get over how strange it was to have someone that cared. I reminded myself that it was his job as a healer, dismissing any other ridiculous notions. We could have conversations and it wouldn't get awkward. He made me laugh, something that was a rare occurrence for me. And I wondered that if this was a crush, then what did I have with Percy? Obsessive respect?

"Fine, Golden Boy." I huffed.

"Now go sit in the sun. You're so pale. Death Boy."

"I'm supposed to be! Son of Hades, remember? You're the child of the sun god, of course the sun is all great for you!"

"Just do it, please." He beamed at me, as if he knew that he had already won.

My eyes dropped to the ground, and I trudged over to a bench that was bathed in sunlight. I sat down, watching some Ares kids spar. "Am I supposed to just sit here by myself like a creeper that watches people?" I challenged.

"You don't have to." He responded, sitting down next to me. I rolled my eyes. When Will was in the sun, his hair shone gold, and his blue eyes were as clear as day. I just looked even more pale.

"Fantabulous," I sighed, before realizing my odd word choice. I usually only thought things like that in my head. Will raised an eyebrow.

"Fantabulous?" He echoed.

"Just… whatever."

"So, when was the last time you were healed? You've taken many beatings, that I can tell." Will eyed me sympathetically. That spawn of Apollo and his evil doctor-powers.

I lowered my head, realizing that no one else really knew what I had gone through. Was I going to tell Will? Did I trust him? The words began to fall out of my mouth. "Well, as you were probably told, I traveled between camps a lot. I didn't really have a home and all that." Will nodded. "At one point, I tried to locate the Doors of Death from within the Underworld, after considering the prophecy, and was sucked into Tartarus." Will's eyes widened, and he unconsciously put his hand over mine, which was resting on the bench. I contemplated moving it but didn't. He could probably feel my pulse skyrocket on contact. "I barely even survived the trip down, and being son of Hades, I could see the true horrors of Tartarus and nearly went insane. Gaea's forces overwhelmed me there after a while, I couldn't tell if it was hours or days, and I was put in an airtight jar in a self induced coma, used as bait for the Seven to some find me. As with all stupid adventures, they were on a time limit, as I was only going to survive for as long as I ate pomegranate seeds from Persephone's garden, one per day. They managed to save me, and the rest you know of from Reyna's stories. I was pretty shredded up by Lycaon at one point."

Will stared at me for a moment. "I'm really sorry," He managed. "I could never imagine the psychological scarring you must have undergone." If only he knew the my life story.

"I'm fine now. I'm happy. And I think I've finally found a place where I belong." I stared pointedly at Camp Half Blood. From our vantage point on this hill, we could see the entire camp. The sun was starting to set, orange rays blooming from behind the strawberry fields. We watched the sun set in a companionable silence. When Will turned to look at me, I noticed that our faces were awfully close. I looked away shyly, biting my lip.

"You've always belonged here. And Nico?" Will whispered, face open and soft.

I turned back to him. "Yeah?" I asked nervously.

"I-" He was cut off when the campers started flooding down to the dining pavilion. "Let's go," He told me. The tension between us faded into nothing, and I wasn't sure whether to be relieved or disappointed. We walked back down to join our friends, but did so with a certain distance between us.

I joined Jason and Percy at the Poseidon table, which we now called the Big Three table, a solution so that we didn't all have to sit alone. I was familiar with being alone, but if I wanted to change, to be the kid I once was, the one that was excitable and curious, I needed to connect with people again. We decided that Percy was the one who could most easily communicate with his father, so that Poseidon would cut Jason and I some slack. Besides, Poseidon didn't get as angry and wasn't such an obsessive rule-follower.

"Hey Nico," They both chorused.

"Hey," I greeted, trying to sound friendly while setting down my plate. "How's the shrine-building going?"

"Good so far. We really need a list of all the minor Gods and Goddesses, though." Jason answered.

"Annabeth could probably write the list," I suggested.

"Yeah, Wise Girl knows everything. Right, Annabeth?" Percy yelled the last sentence really loudly, causing Jason and I to snicker. Annabeth looked confused as she turned towards us.

"What?" She demanded, turning away from Malcolm, whom she was conversing with.

"Nothing!" We all replied simultaneously, bursting into laughter, mine half-hearted, as she frowned and turned back.

"We need to write that response down, as everything that comes out of her mouth is genius and genius mustn't be wasted." I declared uncharacteristically. This was how I used to act with Bianca.

We all started laughing again, Percy looking a bit sheepish as we poked fun at his girlfriend a bit. A few people turned to stare at me. Not many of them had seen me so much as grin before, except for the ones that were there when I first joined camp with Bianca.

Jason noticed me gaze around at the starers uncomfortably. "You're changing for the better, Nico. Someday they'll all see who you really are, not just how you act according to circumstance."

"I'm learning who I am myself," I admitted. Finishing my food, I stood up. "I'm going to bed now, I'm kind of tired."

"You don't want to join the campfire?" Percy questioned.

"Nah, if I sleep longer then Will is going to hopefully free me from captivity." I sighed. After acknowledging my friends, including Annabeth and Piper, with a nod, I headed back to my cabin. I usually slept in my regular clothes, but tonight I decided to wear some PJ's. Bianca had gotten them for me just before we were whisked away to CHB, but they were so big that I couldn't wear them and hadn't tried until today. I hadn't grown too much bigger. In my head, Will's voice went on a rant about the effects of malnutrition. What was wrong with me. Wait, I don't want that answered. I unfolded them from an old bag. Ugh, they were Batman. What had Bianca been thinking? I would never know. Whatever, it's not like anyone was going to see me.

I lay in my coffin-like bed, staring at the ceiling. I really needed to change the decor in here. It was so depressing. The theme may have fit me once upon a time, but I wanted to embrace the light. Crap, that could have a double meaning. The thought turned my mind to the subject of Will Solace. Again. Gods damn it. We were just friends, weren't we? I didn't even know if he was gay. But part of me knew that the reinforced barrier of my heart had been infiltrated once more. And maybe I didn't care.

A soft knock on my door startled me out of my thoughts, and I opened the door a crack, forgetting what I was wearing. Speak of the devil. Or angel, depending on how I was feeling. I honestly didn't know. Of course, it had to be Will.

"Um, Nico, I'll check you tomorrow morning and if you're good, then you're free to go summon skeletons or whatever." He informed me, looking a bit nervous until he saw what I was wearing. "Batman?"

"Never speak of this." I threatened, giving him my signature Death Glare, but when he started laughing, I couldn't help but smile just the tiniest bit.

"Okay, your dirty secrets are safe with me." He grinned. "If it's okay with you, I'll wake you up around seven if you aren't up already for your final check-up."

"Okay," I answered simply. I hesitated, unsure of what to say. Were we acquaintances, friends, good friends, or destined something more? "Goodnight," I said quietly.

"G'night, Nico." He turned and left, and I immediately banged my head on the wall a few times after he departed. Why wouldn't he get out of my head?

In Olympus...

Aphrodite slumped in disappointment. If both boys were too shy to try anything, then there would no reason for them to associate with each other anymore. If Nico was okay, then they wouldn't find true love in each other. In another universe, in which a single different choice was made, she would have found that she had greatly underestimated Will Solace. But this was not that universe. Pacing around, an idea popped into her head. This had worked before. It would only be for a few hours, until they confessed. Well, unless they got things out of the way quicker than she anticipated. She hoped so.

A/N: This was previously typed quite a while ago, and it is, to be truthful, not that great. I've been fixing it a bit though, so in the time between my updates, I'll be revising, not actually typing. I'm going to be busy during spring break, but I do promise to update within a week's time. The more reviews I get, the sooner. I will warn you, there isn't really a true plot until later on, and even then it skips around a bit. But if you liked this, then feel free to drop a review and remember that constructive criticism is always appreciated. As always, thanks for reading, and stay awesome ;)


	2. Chapter 2

Nico's POV

I woke to Will shaking me. "Can you get up? Meet me in the infirmary." He told me softly. I nodded blearily, and he departed as quickly as he had appeared. Where his hands had grasped my shoulders, my skin felt tingly. I rolled my eyes at myself and tried to control my emotions. It seemed to be earlier than seven, but I got up and pulled on my CHB tee shirt, despite the fact that it didn't exactly flatter my complexion. Maybe it was just me, but my skin looked a minuscule amount darker. Still nearly as pale as paper, but without a blue or green tint.

I came out of the bathroom a few minutes later and joined Will. The camp was empty, except for a few yawning kids who were loitering around the dining pavilion. Blinking against the harsh light of the infirmary, I saw that his eyes had gone huge, staring at something to my left, and that he had lost all color.

"Will?" I saw his eyes flick towards me when he heard his name.

"Nico, Aphrodite is here," He croaked. My blood ran cold, and I turned to see her. She was beautiful, I supposed, if you were into girls.

"I am manipulating neither of you, as you undoubtably aren't interested in me." She told us briskly, with a bamboozling introduction. Did that mean that Will was gay too? No? Yes? Maybe? We shared a long look, both of our eyes widening even further. "But," She continued, "you two need a little nudge in the right direction." What? With that, she waved a hand and I felt as if someone was drugging me.

"Will," I slurred dizzily. "Are you okay?" I leaned on the wall, and then slid to the ground. Will was holding his head, sparks of healing magic glowing at the tips of his fingers as he tried to keep himself from falling. He barely caught himself, and that was when I passed out.

When I woke up, Lou Ellen was leaning over me. "Will, are you okay? What happened? We found you and Nico on the ground."

"What are you talking about?" I demanded, sitting up. I froze. Next to me, I saw myself open his eyes and blink.

"What happened?" He asked, and saw me. He froze as well, and we were both staring at each other.

"We're fine," I told Lou Ellen, thinking quickly. "You can go now. I just need to check Nico and see if he's good to go."

"Then why were you-?"

"See you later!" I exclaimed brightly, giving her a little push out the door before slamming it closed and locking it. I let out a long breath and slid to the ground, staring at my hands, whose fingers were longer, warmer, and much less pale than usual.

"Oh my Gods," I heard my own voice say. I looked up into my own eyes. "Is that you, Nico?"

"Who else?" I moaned. "What are we going to do? Why did Aphrodite do this?"

"How am I supposed to know?" He demanded, sitting down next to me. We were silent for a moment.

"Wait, did Aphrodite imply that…?" I asked in realization, unable to complete the sentence.

"So, do you…?" We both stuttered. Then, to my shock, he grabbed the front of my shirt and kissed me. I stiffened. He was kissing me. He was kissing me, oh my Gods.

"Sorry," He apologized, pulling away. He wrung his hands, seeming to shrink a bit. "I didn't know how else to…neither of us could say it, and I thought that maybe you…"

"It's fine. But you do realize that we both technically kissed ourselves." I told him, unable to filter my thoughts before putting them into speech. My first kiss was with myself. Gods. I flinched away from him.

"Yeah, that was a bit weird," He confessed. "Wow, so that's what I look like when I blush."

I blushed even harder and turned away. "Are we stuck like this? How long will this take to wear off or whatever?"

"She didn't mention anything about how long." Will watched me with dark eyes, still a bit cautious after what seemed like me rejecting him.

I sighed. "Okay, that's just fantastic. Should we tell the rest of the camp? I don't particularly feel like acting like you, no offense." It would be pretty humiliating, but Will trying to act like me could only ever do harm to my reputation. I cringed at the thought.

"Yeah, I don't want to act like a total stick in the mud," Will joked, his trademark grin on my face. "Don't tell anyone about this being Aphrodite's doing, or they might figure out…"

"So, should we talk about us?" I asked uncertainly, embarrassed.

"We should," He agreed. Neither of us spoke.

"Do you really like me?" I asked suddenly.

He nodded hesitantly, looking me straight in the eyes. "I thought that you were straight, so I was afraid to say anything. I mean, you kind of got weird when guys walked close to you, but I thought that it was just me imagining things. You are so adorably stubborn, and you're a better person than what people say. No one ever really opened up to me like you did yesterday, Nico. I'm just just an optimistic healer with a sunny personality to them. To be used for medical care, and not much else. You don't seem to know what an amazing person you are, if only you free yourself from that doubt you always carry with you. I've fallen for you hard, Death Boy." His eyes sparkled, and I could practically see their blue from underneath my own dark brown.

"It's just that… to love is to condemn for me. I loved Bianca. She was the only one I ever cared about. And then I lost her. I had nobody. And when my heart told me to love, I hated it, tried to ignore it. I was an outcast, and I was so utterly alone. But you weren't afraid to tease me or argue with me or touch me. It was surprising that you even wanted to be near me." I whispered. "You're one of the first people I wanted to open up to. You weaseled your way into my heart, Will Solace, as a friend or more, and I think you're there to stay, for better or for worse. People always judge you on how you look or seem. You don't." I knew what I felt for him now, and I refused to lie through my teeth.

"Yeah. Just because my dad is the god of the sun doesn't mean that I can't be all dark and mopey. Nico, I've seen and heard your pain. It would be an honor to be your solace." He looked at me like he could see my soul. And maybe my soul wasn't as dark as I thought it was.

"So who are you really?" I asked, a small smile pulling at my lips from his pun. "And by the way, that was terrible. Never try to do a last-name-pun ever again. It would be bad for my health, and you're supposed to be a doctor."

He chuckled. "I'm just what people think I am. But it's their assumptions that annoy me, even if they are correct."

"Should we go?" I asked, gesturing at the door.

He nodded, jumping to his feet and offering me his hand. I took it, feeling those annoying butterflies that now seemed to inhabit my stomach, and stood up. Unused to being a few inches taller than usual, I tripped over my own feet like a total klutz. Will tried to steady me, but we ended up on the floor, with me sprawled on top of him and our noses inches apart. "Is cliched crap going to start happening to us now?" He sighed, sitting up and gently disentangling himself from me. "Let's go see Chiron."

We stepped outside, the late morning sunlight hitting me. And strangely, it felt no different than it usually did to me, although I saw Will smile a bit and close his eyes, momentarily absorbing the light. The image did something strange to my heart. I was seeing both Will and myself at the same time, in one person. Will, son of Apollo, and myself, smiling at embracing the sun. The me that I could have been if I'd chosen a different road. Was Aphrodite influencing us? I guess that I didn't particularly care anymore. Because Will likes me, at least a bit, and I know for certain that I like him back.

A/N: Okay, so please let me know what you think. This was the first time I tried anything romantic to some degree, so I want to know if it was cringe-y or anything. I'm going to Universal Studios for the next few days, so it may be a while before next update, and the next chapter is in Will's POV. Thanks for reading, and as always, stay awesome ;)


	3. Chapter 3

Will's POV

Feeling the light hit me was bliss. It always felt like that first thing in the morning. Nico looked at me strangely, thoughts flickering in his eyes. I mean, my eyes. I had to admit, I did kind of miss his dark ones. I was so terribly smitten.

"Did we switch powers?" He asked, glancing at my feet. The grass wasn't withering, at least. When he spoke to me like this, his face looked younger and more vulnerable, even though he currently wore my mine. He needed to look like that more often. He had been forced to grow up too soon. He closed his eyes, concentrating, and a skull erupted from the ground. I skittered backwards with a yelp, grabbing Nico's arm before quickly letting go. He fought laughter but failed.

"That was not funny!" I complained.

"Sorry. It was just the look on my own face..." He smiled faintly.

"Haha. That looked kind of creepy to see myself do that."

"Sorry," He repeated, looking guilty now. He cast the skull a look of disgust, and I realized that my reaction made him feel self-conscious about his dark abilities.

"It's fine, you just surprised me," I assured him. I didn't want him to be uncomfortable in any way. I didn't even know why I kissed him. I shouldn't have, and I certainly didn't plan to beforehand. I told myself that Aphrodite was messing with my head. I wasn't even out of the closet yet, for Zeus's sake! The skull sank back into the ground, almost violently. "And no more underworld-y stuff!" I reminded him. He snorted. We walked down to the Big House. People looked at me oddly, a tiny bit of admiration and fear on on their faces. Was this what Nico went through all the time? Distracted, I bumped straight into Percy.

"Oh, hey Percy. Sorry," I apologized.

He squinted at me. "It's fine, Nico. You seem kind of off, though. You okay?"

Nico and I shared a look. "Uh, that's because I'm not Nico. He and I switched bodies…?" I tried to look less nervous than I was.

Percy looked puzzled. "So you're Will? Is this a joke?" He eyed the two of us, scrutinizing our expressions.

"No, it's not a joke. We need to see Chiron." Nico insisted anxiously, embarrassed. He lowered his eyes.

Percy moved aside. It was so soon after the war that nothing seemed too crazy anymore. "Be my guests. One more question though - how'd it happen?"

Nico almost imperceptibly shook his head. If we mentioned Aphrodite, then he would know about us.

"Dunno," I shrugged. We walked past him, ignoring his frown, and found the centaur in his office. "Chiron?"

"What do you need?" He asked, without looking up from some papers.

How would we explain this without sounding completely awkward? "We switched bodies," I blurted. Better to get it over with fast, like ripping off a bandage.

That made him pause. "Come again?" He asked, gaping at the two of us. I repeated myself bluntly.

"Who did this?" He ordered.

We had to tell him, or he wouldn't know what to do. Nico beat me to the answer this time.

"It was Aphrodite." He grumbled, a shadow crossing his face. My face. This was making my head hurt. I should go take something for that, actually. If this situation with Nico was giving me a headache, and I don't mean to brag, but I'm the best healer in my cabin, and I manage to get a headache, then crap was getting real.

Chiron did a double take. "Aphrodite?"

"Yes, Aphrodite."

"She always plays matchmaker. Sometimes will succeed, sometimes will fail." The look on his face told me that he believed this situation to be the latter. Assumed it immediately. Nico and I exchanged a hurt look. Was it so hard to believe that we could be together? Apparently. "You can ask her for a chat, and unless she's busy, she'll most likely come to check on her project." Ouch. We were a project, apparently.

"Alright then. Come on, Will." Nico turned stiffly and walked out of the building. I followed him behind the Big House, where there was no one to overhear or see us. "How many people know that you're gay?" He asked me unexpectedly, causing me to freeze.

I hesitated. "No one," I said in a low voice. "You?"

"Percy, Annabeth, and Jason. Maybe Piper, she's always intuitive. And you, obviously. No need to include the Gods, as they probably knew since we were born. At least, they would want us to assume that they know all."

I sighed. "Don't be offended by Chiron. Every living being will make incorrect assumptions at one point or another, and it's not like anyone would guess." Memories crowded my mind.

"Are we official?" He powered forward intensely. An even more vulnerable expression appeared on his face. He was putting himself out there, ready to be shot down.

"Yes," I confirmed without missing a beat, and to my eternal surprise, he kissed me, in a different way than we did earlier. While earlier I had kissed him in a short, sweet, and spontaneous way that said, "I like you", Nico kissed me as a pre-planned move, that said, "I really like you". We weren't exactly at the love stage yet, but nevertheless I melted like a teenage girl.

When we pulled away, he blushed, ducking his head and eyeing his shoes, trying to rebuild his indifferent facade. He was scared of rejection. It was good to know that I wasn't the only one. I smiled and intertwined our fingers momentarily, seeing him relax.

"Let's go chat with a love goddess." I said lightly, grinning. He smiled back at me, such a strange gesture for him that it completely changed his appearance. There was a hint of the little boy he must have used to be in that smile, a boy I wanted to get to know. We walked towards the strawberry fields, the afternoon sun pounding us. We walked closer to each other than we usually did, but not enough to attract attention. But attract attention we did. It became evident that Percy had told everyone about our predicament, and I could feel their stares on our backs.

"Ugh, they're all just gaping at us." Nico muttered. He wiped his face clean of emotion, preparing for confrontation.

"Just follow me." I disappeared into the rows of strawberry plants, which had been recently altered by Katie Gardener to be as tall as corn stalks. Nico trailed after me, looking like he wanted to dissolve in shadows. Well, too bad, because I wasn't letting him get away with that. We looked behind us as Annabeth jogged over. Percy wasn't at her side for once, thank the Gods.

"Nico?" She asked him, assessing his posture and the arrangement of his features. Nico raised a hand half heartedly, his eyes shadowed with caution. His smile was long gone, and he unconsciously bit his lip as he watched her expression. I wanted to reassure him in some way, but not in front of Annabeth.

"Who did this?" She asked.

This was Annabeth, and her air of maturity compelled me to answer. "Don't tell anyone, but it was Aphrodite." Nico flashed me a glance, a warning in his eyes.

"Good luck getting through to her," She answered in distaste, rejoining Percy. I saw her peek back and wink at us. She knew.

A/N: Florida is hot. Also, there are WAY too many people that go to Universal Studios every day. This led to my family having to leave early. At least I was able to update this, so *insert jazz hands here*. I'm going to switch POV every chapter between Nico and Will, so everyone's favorite Death Boy is next. I'll update within a week, but if I somehow manage to get at least five reviews, then I'll move updating this to a higher spot on my priority list. I'm kind of begging for constructive criticism at this point, as I'm not sure how this fic is being received. Wow, I've sunk low. Oh well. As always, stay awesome, people. BlazingFlames signing out.


	4. Chapter 4

Nico's POV

"You hungry?" Will asked. I was still a bit annoyed that he had told Annabeth, but I put that aside for now. Will looked too innocent to be mad at, head tipped in question.

I nodded, blinking against the sun. I hadn't had breakfast, so by now I was pretty hungry, despite the fact that I rarely ate much. Will rummaged around in a strawberry plant and pulled one out. Plucking out the leaves on top, he handed it to me.

"Picnic time," He announced. I rolled my eyes. He was so strange, not that I was one to talk.

"I am not going to sit in the middle of this field and stuff my face with strawberries. I'm busy trying to figure out the best way to kill Aphrodite." I ate the strawberry reluctantly, contradicting my statement.

"Well, her "experiment" did work. Besides, how are we going to get her over here?" Will looked up at the sky, as if he could possibly see Aphrodite in Olympus.

"Aphrodite, we need to talk to you!" I called out, hoping that I didn't look delusional in my hope that this might work.

"Like I haven't already been watching," She giggled, appearing out of thin air. I let out a breath of relief.

"Your plan worked, but do we really have to stay like this?" Will asked, attempting to sound respectful, but sounding like he wanted to swear at her. I wanted to elbow him. Although to be honest, I'd rather kiss him again. But last time I did that, I nearly passed out. I wasn't brave when it came to things like that.

She seemed to consider this. "Well, you're getting off easy, but if that's what you want, cuties." Cuties? I opened my mouth indignantly to protest, but changed my mind.

We shared a shocked look, surprised that it was this easy to convince her. She snapped her fingers, smirking in a self-satisfied way. The world went blurry once more, but this time, Will and I sat before we could fall over like drunks, and at the last second Will took my hand as we fell unconscious.

I opened my eyes and was relieved to see Will lying on the ground as himself. I gave him a nudge, and he rolled over onto his back, opening his eyes. He stopped short when he saw me, mouth hanging open. "What?" I demanded, and saw my arms.

My skin was the same olive it used to be, several shades darker than my usual pale. It triggered several flashbacks of when I was younger and used to stare into a mirror, wondering who my father was. I wandered over to the lake in a daze, Will at my heels, and gazed into my reflection in the water. Like Bianca, a smattering of freckles now visible across my nose, like Bianca. It made my heart hurt. Was this how I would've looked if I'd been happy, if I'd always lived in the light? My hair was ever so slightly less messy, and my eyes were now identifiable as dark brown to observers, instead of dark pits of hell, with less shadows underneath.

Will touched my shoulder. "Nico…" He murmured.

"This is how I would've looked if Hades hadn't been my father," I told him, fear making heart pound. I was less thin, but mostly the same height and build. Will wouldn't stop staring at me. "Sorry if I look weird. I don't know how…" I searched for the words, but never had to deliver, because he was kissing me again.

"I like how you look," He told me, and smiled when I couldn't meet his eyes.

"Who did this?" I was an older version of my ten-year-old self. Like nothing had ever happened to break me, shatter me.

"It wasn't me. Well, not completely." Aphrodite commented, and we both jumped in surprise to see her standing there.

"Then who was it?"

"Will has been subconsciously healing you. Light always prevails against darkness and all that. I mean, most of the time. Your darkness is being overridden. Your powers are being slightly suppressed, but luckily this is the farthest extent of what will happen." I cringed at the thought of all that lightness-darkness poetic-ness. Just no.

"That makes no sense, but I'll take it," I said calmly, although I knew that they could both see the inner turmoil inside of me.

"On the bright side, you went from hot in a goth way to hot as in any girl or guy would agree that you're at least good-looking." Will looked at Aphrodite like she had stuck a dagger in his stomach.

My eyes widened. The words "Nico" and "Hot" fit together like baloney and chocolate. But Will was the one to blush now. "Oh my Gods, are you serious, Will?"

"You don't how hot you are," Will managed. We stared at each other for a moment before simultaneously bursting into laughter. Why was I laughing and smiling so much lately? I could probably sprain my face if I wasn't careful. That was possible, right? Aphrodite squealed and clapped her hands together, looking back and forth between us. We rolled our eyes.

"Let's go back," I groaned, dusting off my shirt. Will took my hand and we came back through the field. The love goddess faded away. It was already evening (did Aphrodite really have to knock us out for that long?), and the dining pavilion was full.

We dropped our hands as we got closer. "Will they recognize me?" I asked quietly. Will faltered.

"I can tell it's you because you have the same face, just different coloring. The only difference to someone who is color blind would be your skin tone, freckles, and maybe weight. I'm not saying you're fat!" He added quickly when I pretended to glare at him. "If I didn't know you very well, or if I completely was caught off guard by your altered appearance, then I might not recognize you."

"Okay," I took a deep breath and walked down to the pavilion, while Will followed a few feet behind. I made it to the food unnoticed, but a few people called out to Will, "Got everything sorted out with Death Boy?" He nodded.

"Where is he? I heard that he can creep around like a ghost." Some Ares kid said.

Will rolled his eyes. "Guys, he's right there, you know," And he pointed at me. I really hated that boy. All eyes were on me now, and I shot him a discreet glare, a real one this time.

"Nico?" Percy asked, coming forward and squinting at me. "You look…"

"Different?" I suggested. "Yeah, I kind of realized." My voice came out in monotone.

"You look a bit like Bianca." He said quietly, and for some reason, the words coming out of his mouth sent me into a state of panic. I clenched my fists together, feeling my own nails digging into my skin. Bianca. I couldn't look like her. I couldn't be reminded of her whenever I looked at my reflection. That would be one of the cruelest twists of fate yet.

Will was in front of me now, and I closed my eyes, chest heaving. "Nico, you're fine! You're okay!" He soothed.

"I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have mentioned her!" Percy apologized frantically.

Chill out Nico. Chill out. I grit my teeth and opened my eyes. There were a few Apollo kids getting pushed over to me, but they looked afraid. There was a circle of dead grass where I was standing, around only one foot in diameter. Now I know what Aphrodite meant by me having suppressed powers. Usually, there would be ten to twenty feet of blackened vegetation around me.

"Sorry for freaking out, I'm fine now," I said meekly, ducking my head. Risking a glance up, I saw that no one looked afraid anymore, just sympathetic. It was the strangest feeling. "Did I hurt anyone?" I asked, a note of shame creeping into my voice. Even if there was a bit of dead grass, I might've hurt someone because of my lack of control. Everyone shook their heads. Chiron parted the crowd.

"Nico? What happened?"

"Um, can you please specify? I'm not sure what scenario you are referring to…" I muttered, embarrassed that the campers were all still looking at me.

"Everything."

"Okay, so we had a nice little chat with Aphrodite, and she switched us back when she figured out that there was nothing between us, and then Will accidentally pulled some super-healing on me, so now the effects of all past trauma are nonexistent. Not that I dislike demigods, but if I wasn't one…" I held my arms out and gestured to myself. "So now, my powers aren't as great. If I had been at full power when I freaked out, I might've damaged the entire pavilion by accident."

"Oh my gods, he's so cute!" I heard an Aphrodite girl squeal to her friend. This was really starting to irritate me, and the crowd began to murmur.

"Do you need medical attention, Mr. di Angelo?" Chiron asked me, face devoid of emotion except for his eyes, which contained the pity which almost everyone's did when they looked at me before the war. Pity and fear. Chiron wasn't afraid, though, obviously.

"I'm okay. I'm kind of hungry though, so maybe everyone can stop gaping at me and continue their lives?" I replied with a little barb in my voice. More than a few people looks guilty and stared down at their food. Jason walked up to me and stood next to Percy.

"Why is Aphrodite meddling with your life?" He asked, discreetly glancing at Percy with a raised eyebrow.

"I think she's trying to get me a boyfriend or something," I answered quietly enough that only they could hear me.

Percy looked embarrassed for me. "Oh, gods. Sorry, man, that sucks."

Annabeth and Piper joined us. "What's going on?" Piper demanded.

I took a deep breath. "Piper, you're the only one here that probably doesn't know, so I kind of owe you an explanation. I'm gay."

Piper blinked. "Okay," She said simply.

"You're cool with that?" I asked in disbelief.

"It doesn't matter what your sexual orientation is. You judge people by character. Believe me, I'd know, having a mother that could be easily compared to a slut. Sorry she's screwing with you. Also, I kind of had a feeling that you were gay. Aphrodite sense and all. The new Spidey-sense."

I nodded. "Gaydar is confirmed," I commented, making the four of them chuckle, and then felt something burn in my skull just as Will walked up. Leo Valdez was alive. _Hey, Nico, if you're getting this then I'm on my way with Calypso. Hope you didn't freak too much about me "dying". _Apparently the dead could speak_._

**A/N: I'm really sorry. I have a heightened sense of awareness that this isn't my best work, and I'm not sure whether it's good enough, the cause of my delayed update. I know that this chapter was bad, and it looks like I'm not so much revising as redoing it all together. So it is time for you guys to be heard. Should I continue (if I do, I promise to improve my writing, but my updates will take longer), delete this and restart some time or another, or are there any chapters you want redone? Thanks to anyone who is putting up with this, and stay awesome.**


	5. Chapter 5

Will's POV

Nico doubled over, holding his head the moment I'd walked over. "Leo!" He gasped. "He's alive! And heading over here shortly."

"What?" Piper screeched. Everyone's faces lit up.

"Iris message Hazel and Frank," Annabeth told Percy excitedly. He nodded and rushed off. Nico offhandedly stuffed a corn dog into his mouth as campers flooded over to Piper and Jason, chattering excitedly. Everyone knew that they were his best friends. They all overlooked the son of Hades, who had delivered the message in the first place. He blended in with anything under a darkening sky.

"He's going to get quite in welcoming committee," I commented to Nico, smiling a bit as he tried to swallow. He nodded, reaching for an apple.

"While everyone's distracted, do you wanna come to my cabin real quick?" He asked, tossing the apple in the air a few times, as if he was testing it for something, before actually taking a bite. At least he was eating something.

"Sure," I answered uncertainly, and he gestured for me to follow. Going inside the dark room, he turned to me.

"This was the weirdest day ever," He began.

"It was mostly a good weird though. I kissed the guy I liked and now he's my boyfriend," I replied teasingly. He leaned against the wall and turned his head shyly, watching me thoughtfully. I felt like I was being x-rayed.

"So it's 100% official?" He questioned. I pinned him against the wall by the wrists and leaned forward.

"It's 101%," I whispered, staring into his dark eyes. They looked just a little less shadowed, a little less empty.

"Is it okay if I'm not ready to let anyone know?" He breathed, voice higher than usual.

"It's fine." Our noses brushed, and I heard his intake of breath.

We stared at each for a moment, and then slowly, tentatively, he touched his lips to mine. I hugged him close, feeling his heart pounding against my chest. I gently pulled away after a moment.

"I don't know how to do this," I admitted. He let out a peal of laughter, his voice tinkling like little bells. It was such a rare occurrence that I made sure to commit the sound to my memory.

"I don't know either." No sooner than he'd said that, we heard shouts of joy and the loud, familiar creaking of a certain dragon.

"I'll shadow travel, and you just walk out, pretending to have tried to find me for something doctor-y if anyone asks." He instructed me. I nodded and stepped outside as he vanished into the darkness, before realizing that I should have chastised him for using his powers. Leo and a girl that had to be Calypso were sitting atop of Festus. The Romans, Hazel and Frank, ran to embrace him along with the rest of the Seven and, to my surprise, Reyna, a good friend of Nico's after the Giant War. Hazel had learned to shadow travel, I suppose.

"We thought you were dead, you idiot!" Piper punched him in the arm, and he pretended to be knocked onto the ground in exaggerated motions.

"Missed you, too, Beauty Queen." He laughed. Percy gave Calypso a nod of acknowledgement, which she returned cautiously.

Nico stood apart from the group, and only when Leo had explained how the dragon had administered to Physician's Cure had he approached him. Leo looked at him blankly for a moment. "Di Angelo?"

"Got your message," My new boyfriend said lightly, tapping a finger to his head. Leo looked extremely confused. "Don't use your previous death to bust into my head anymore, though, unless you want to get chased by angry zombies." Zombies? That was unlike him.

"What happened to you?" He demanded, blinking a few times as if he were hallucinating.

"Piper and Jason could tell you," Nico responded. "And can I talk to Frank, Hazel, Reyna, and you for a sec? You deserve to know."

They all followed him behind his cabin, Leo telling Nyssa to show Calypso around. I watched from a distance as they stepped out a moment later, Reyna giving him a hug. They all looked accepting, and he waved goodbye to the Romans, embracing his sister Hazel, who looked stunned. He gave Leo and Frank a little nod, and shadow traveled back into Cabin 13, leaving the others to do their thing.

"Did they take it well?" I asked in a low voice, sitting down with my back against the wall. He nodded, flushing a bit.

"They don't know that we're dating yet." He confessed. I reminded him that it was fine. And then a thought hit me from out of the blue.

"The summer is almost over, and I'll have to head home soon," I realized aloud. I could hear the disappointment audible in my own voice. Nico stiffened, eyes widening.

"We could keep in touch, and I could visit you," He decided slowly. I nodded quickly.

"I'll miss you, though." I sighed, running a hand through my hair.

"We still have two weeks. Let's make them good."

"Are you doubting my ability to make a few weeks amazing?"

"When did I say-?" I silenced him with another kiss.

"I can't believe we've only been together since today!" He spluttered.

"But we were watching each other like stalkers for longer." I smirked, causing him to turn pink and object weakly. "Denial isn't just a river in Egypt." I added, which rendered him silent.

After an hour of talking and maybe just a little bit of contact, we bid each other goodnight and I retired to my own cabin.

The time we had together sped by. Nico sparred with me and taught me how to use a sword, which failed when I nearly took his head off, and I gave him what he dubbed, "nurse training". We were careful just to act like casual friends in public, and we always spent the evenings in his cabin.

When it was time to say goodbye, I felt my heart constrict a bit. When Mom came to pick me up, and my bags were in the trunk, Nico ran up to me. We'd already said our goodbyes in private, but Nico simply gave a "friend hug" before disappearing into the trees. I knew that he was waiting somewhere in the shadows to watch me depart, though. I fingered a drachma, rolling it over in my palm before replacing it in my pocket.

My remaining half siblings who hadn't already left bid me farewell and Mom leaned over to give me a peck on the cheek when I climbed into the car. "Was that your friend, Will?"

I nodded. I wasn't sure of her opinion of gay people, and wasn't prepared to find out yet. We began the long drive to sunny Florida, and I pulled out my iPod, watching Camp Half Blood vanish in the distance while music pumped into my head.

**A/N: I got a lot of favorites, follows, and some reviews, so I am, in fact, continuing this. I won't update as quickly because I am focusing on another fic at the moment, but I am not an abandoner. I've forgotten to mention that my disclaimer is on my profile page, so you can check there if you want to validate that. Thanks for reading this, and stay awesome, guys ;)**


	6. Chapter 6

***Huge A/N at bottom***

* * *

**Nico's POV**

I spent the first week being stunned by the emptiness of the camp. After that, I had taken to hanging out with Leo and Calypso, because they were some of the only people there. A certain Goddess also spoke to me concerning more important matters. Grover, Percy's satyr friend, became something of an acquaintance to me, and Jason visited every once in a while, although he spent most of his time with Piper and her dad or building shrines. Hazel told me that she'd visit once a month with Reyna and Frank. Percy and Annabeth were spending the first half of the year at his mom's house, and the second half at her dad's house.

I had Iris-messaged Will twice so far. We were both in our rooms, doors locked. It was kind of sad, because I wanted to at least be able to punch him in the shoulder when he made a really bad joke. Instead, I had to settle for my Death Glare, which didn't seem to be effective. It was probably because the intensity was diluted through the message, because I was definitely not going soft. He told me about his school, and how he and Cecil got to kill their least favorite teacher, who turned out to be a monster, and I told him about how it was in CHB during the school year. There were a few campers with no family to go back to, and we all became friends, lest we be completely lonely and isolated for around nine months. Strange how easily I can just call someone a friend now. Although to be honest, I could probably deal with being alone for a couple of months.

Chiron told us that we weren't required to train, but I did anyways. I sparred with an Ares girl named Kaylee Stormguarde. She kicks my derrière every time, but I bet her five drachmas that I could win by February.

I also learned a bunch about first aid from Alex Light, an Apollo boy with an ironic last name. Will is going to be impressed next summer.

Weeks turned into months, and my schedule stayed the same. Leo became a good friend, but things were getting boring. When Christmas Eve rolled around, I broke out my old aviator jacket, which would soon be too small. I decided to visit Will via Shadow travel, but my arrival was slightly less exciting when my ankle got twisted. Actually, I should be surprised that I easily traveled a thousand miles. But I shrugged it off. His mom, who was a nurse that looked almost exactly like Will and Apollo (except female), saw me randomly appear in her yard and flipped out until I explained that I wasn't a monster, but a demigod. Will healed me while ranting about how I shouldn't put so much strain on myself and to be careful and blah, blah, blah.

I was only planning on staying to say hi, possibly sneak into his room and talk about more serious things, but his mom asked me to stay for Christmas Eve's dinner and I politely agreed.

"Will, honey, show Nico your room, won't you?" She asked him, bustling around the kitchen. We shared a smirk and stepped into his room, closing the door. There were posters from a few different popular music artists, but I rarely kept up with that sort of thing. His bedspread was bright yellow.

"Does that thing glow in the dark?" I demanded, pointing at it. It offended my eyes. To my amusement, I had already grown almost as tall as Will, as I noticed when he stood directly before me.

"I've missed you," He sighed, locking the door to hide us from his mother, and I linked my fingers behind his waist while he brushed a few stray strands of hair out of my face. Holding me close, his clear blue eyes shone like the sky on a cloudless summer day, the kind that you believe will never end. That it will be forever. "Have you been okay? I hope you haven't been moping around camp."

"I've been fine." I frowned at him. I wasn't that negative!

"Good. Uh, is it okay if I…?" He turned pink, and I realized that neither of us knew how to behave. Sure, I usually didn't appreciate being touched, but this was Will.

"It is," I agreed softly, and he kissed my forehead, and then my nose, and they he planted his lips on mine. I lifted my chin, making his lip move to my throat. He faltered, uncertainty playing on his face.

"I'm sorry, I still don't really know what I'm doing, Angel."

"Angel?"

"Uh, you know, di Angelo, Angel?"

"What a joke." I snorted. Irony. The struggle was real. "Anyways, I'm still fourteen! Or ninety… never mind. I don't know what I'm doing either!"

Will kissed my jaw, and I pulled his mouth back to mine, the awkward tentativeness fading somewhat.

"You're so amazing, Nico." He sighed, tracing some sort of design on my cheek. His mom knocked on the door and we jumped away from each other, Will trying to fix his hair and me trying to pull down my shirt, which had gotten tugged up a bit. "One second, Mom!" He called. Glancing at me, his eyes bugged out of his head.

"What?" I mouthed.

"Oh my gods I'm so sorry I didn't mean to we're screwed!" He hissed, all in one breath without pausing.

"What?" I breathed back.

"I-" He swallowed hard. "Left a mark?"

I angled myself so that I could see my reflection in his window and managed to locate it. What the actual f… something-Hazel-would-not-approve-of.

"Tell her that I left really quick to go do something," I whispered. Seeing him nod, I shadow traveled out of there at the speed of light, returning to Camp Half Blood in a flash.

I dashed to the Aphrodite cabin with shadows still winding around my legs, unable to believe how low I'd sunk. I might just kill Will Solace. As in, honest to Gods murder.

"Minnie! I need help! I'll tell you everything later." I wailed.

The only girl that was still inhabiting the cabin came out of her room, shivering in the cold winter air. "Di Angelo? What-?" She saw it. "Oh. Someone's been naughty. Who is she?"

"Please, is there a way to cover it up?" I asked urgently. She got a determined expression. An Aphrodite girl on a mission could be a scary thing. Especially if you knew Piper.

"Stay right there."

Five minutes later, she'd put concealer, or foundation, or whatever it was on the purple splotch. "You can't even tell," She said proudly. I thanked her and made her swear secrecy repeatedly on the River Styx.

I shadow traveled straight into Will's dining room, almost landing on him. He grabbed my hand to catch me as I swayed, light-headed after using my powers so much.

"Stop doing so much underworld-y stuff!" He complained, his hand passing through my chest for just a second before I completely solidified. Concern shifted his features. Seeing his mom staring at him, he explained, "I was his doctor when he almost faded."

"Faded?" She squawked.

"Yeah. I brought the statue of Athena across countries and continents with a Roman Praetor girl and a violent satyr to save the relationship between the Greeks and Romans, causing them to team up and help destroy the Earth Goddess, Gaea. After this guy threatened my friend, I got so angry that I basically killed him and turned him into a mindless ghost. So I started turning into shadow when I used too much power, which I had been for a few weeks. It was only after that that it got really bad. Don't worry, though, my powers have become incredibly weakened now." I said nonchalantly in one breath as Will infused me with healing magic. His eyes laughed at my bored tone.

"And this was during the Giant War that Will told me about?" She asked, earning a lot of respect from me for sounding unaffected.

"Yep, just this summer."

"How did you become friends?"

"I think that it was when we bumped into each other on our way to stop the insane Roman auger from killing the Greeks."

"Naturally," She laughed. "Feel free to sit down. I know it's not much, but it's usually just Will and I."

I eyed the large ham. Not much? "No, this is amazing, thank you so much Ms. Solace."

"It's nice to have a guest around." She responded brightly.

We ate mostly in silence, until Will's mom decided to start conversation again. "How old are you?" She asked.

"I'm fifteen in January, actually."

"Oh, Will is going to be sixteen in May." She commented. Will and I glanced at each other. "So, Nico, what do you plan on doing once you're too old to go to camp?"

"Uh, I actually might want to be an ambassador between the Greeks and Romans, I guess. I don't have any steady money income, an address, or a family."

"Oh dear, I'm very sorry. What happened?" She looked terribly sad for me.

I blushed as Will hissed to his mother, "Don't ask him that, he'll feel obligated to answer and it'll make him feel awful."

"It's fine," I told him gently. And so I told my secret boyfriend's mother my general life story, as Will listened and ate in silence and she stared, pity and horror warring on her face. I only left out the part about being homosexual and crushing on Percy. Wouldn't want to throw her off with that fact out of nowhere.

After a few minutes, she found her voice. "I'm so sorry. It's a miracle you can even function with that much trauma at such a young age." This only made me feel more awkward.

I smiled tightly. "Things have been getting better for me." Will's hand found mine under the table and squeezed it tight.

"Will wants to be either a doctor or a music artist. I suggested doctor, of course. Those singer types tend to be oddball fags. Will's not much of a singer anyways. Didn't get any of Apollo's talent other than healing." I'd stopped listening by then, unbelieving of what I had heard.

With that one word, everything shattered. "What?" I asked, reigning in my shock and hurt. Will's face was white.

"Oh, I'm sorry if you support their rights or whatever, in my "old fashioned" opinion, it just isn't right. I don't know why anyone would make that choice." It was clear that Will didn't know that his mother was homophobic.

Before I could say anything, Will blurted, "Apollo isn't really specific, he's bi."

"Yes, but…he's a god." She said, sounding less certain. I could tell that she already knew this, though.

I stood up, having finished my food. "Well, it's been great to meet you, m'am, but I really must get going," I said in a fake apologetic voice, "Thank you for having me, and have a Merry Christmas."

"Thanks, Neeks," He said weakly, his eyes flat. I gave him a little nod.

"Bye."

"Feel free to visit soon," Ms. Solace said energetically, unaware of the unease and emotional baggage she'd left in her wake.

I told Minnie everything, as promised, and made her swear not to tell anyone. Again. She agreed, looking at me pityingly. I. Was. So. Tired. Of. Pity. Something dark stirred in me as my anger swelled. But I shoved it down. I needed to change. I had to learn how to control my emotions in a better way than this.

"I'm really sorry, man." Leo sighed, hand on my shoulder. "I don't know what to tell you." I'd told him and Calypso about the fag comment but not about Will and my relationship with him. Leo was a good person, but it wasn't the time or place.

Callie's (what she now asked me to call her) dark, almond shaped eyes glowed with warmth. I couldn't believe that she'd been exiled to Ogygia, since she was such a sweet person. She gave me a little hug, sympathetic. Once she knew more about me and I knew more about her, we were starting to become good friends. Two previously lonely people. "I know how it feels to be judged, and to be attacked emotionally. We all have." I nodded, grateful. She hadn't even batted an eye when I said that I was homosexual.

"Yeah, don't let it bother you." Leo added, glad that Callie had taken the reigns. Like me, comforting people wasn't his strong suit. We were alike in that way. He was more comfortable with machines, and I was more comfortable with the dead, although I hated myself for it.

"Thanks. It's not like it's a tragedy, but it's a mood-killer."

"Let's go and join the Christmas Campfire! I rigged it so that it's red and green for tonight only." Leo grinned, looking eerily like one on Santa's Latino elves. Without giving me a chance to protest, the two of them grabbed me by the arms and practically dragged me there.

There were only around thirty people in the camp, but Chiron still made a speech. We roasted marshmallows for a while, speculating about what would happen this summer. Everyone agreed that a peaceful summer was highly unlikely, but we all wished for one after the last two. I felt very out of my element in a situation like this, surrounded by people, but I managed to socialize a bit, hopefully without seeming like an emo asshole who hates everything.

Leo punctuated the serious conversation with a shout as he realized that the marshmallow he'd just put in his mouth was on fire. I snickered along with everyone else, earning a few glances. They were still getting used to my improving demeanor.

"Time for Christmas carols!" Alex announced, standing in the middle to lead like a conductor. The flames began to rise higher, the eye-scorching colors burning my retinas. In a different situation, I would've questioned how Leo made fire unnatural neon colors, but for today I let him have his moment.

"I hear those sleigh bells jingling, ring ting tingling too," Everyone sang, their voices harmonizing surprisingly well. Except for me, that is. I just blinked, clenching my jaws together. Leo elbowed me.

Fine, I would do it. For Will, because he made me promise to join the campfire songs. The things I did for that boy. "Come on it's lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you," My voice sounded higher than I'd expected, causing me to falter, cheeks burning. But no one looked at me weirdly, so I just continued, trying to stay quiet and hard-to-hear.

At the end of the song, everyone started grinning and laughing at themselves like a bunch of silly children. Even I cracked a smile, which I quickly smothered. "You were pretty good," Callie whispered to me.

"Yeah, right. I probably sounded like a dying cat." I mocked myself good-naturedly.

She denied it, but I insisted that she didn't have to make me feel better about myself. When we were all dismissed back to the cabins, I took out a drachma and headed over to a little fountain in the corner with a light shining over it, making a rainbow. It looked a bit ridiculous in the dark Hades cabin, to be honest, but I thanked Iris for making the cabin all the brighter. And Leo, for building it.

Now it was time to try something new that Percy suggested. Feeling a bit stupid, I pronounced in an official-ish voice, "O Fleecy, do me a solid. Show me Will Solace in Tampa, Florida."

"As you wish," I heard a playful, female voice giggle, and Will's face fizzled into view.

* * *

**A/N: So, um, sorry for taking so long? *dodges tomatoes* Yeah, I'm sorry that this wasn't all that great. The thing is, I have this entire story mostly typed out on my Pages app - 33,000 words and everything, and if I were to change too much then I'd have to go and change details for all of those pages of text. And that might take a looong time. This was originally two chapters, but I decided that I at least owed you people this. I will now acknowledge the fact that this is slightly OOC *bows*. So, here's the time when you guys decide what happens with this fic. Long chapters and updates every week or so, or shorter chapters and … this is hard to attain… BIWEEKLY updates! Whoa, look at me, making deals that I may not be able to keep! Seriously, though, I do try. I just got distracted with other stories and… school! You guessed it! Here's a million dollars (or whatever currency you have in your country)! *Throws fistfuls of cash* Thanks for reading and generally being epic for actually being here at chapter 6 of BlazingFlames22's ramblings and excuses, and stay awesome ;)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Will's POV**

I was in my room, waiting for Nico to Iris Message me, when a small light bloomed in the corner of my vision. To my confusion, Nico looked almost stunned. "I think we may have a bit more time than we would for a normal Iris message. I used the direct number of a sort-of friend by association."

"What?" I asked, confused.

"Fleecy, one of Iris's assistants. It's 'O Fleecy, do me a solid'." Nico winced a bit as he spoke, as if the very words were painful.

"I'm going to use that from now on," I stated, laughing, but then grew serious. "I'm so sorry about my mom. You don't have to come over if she makes you uncomfortable. School is getting busy, and it might be hard to talk to you as often."

He looked a bit put out at that, but hid it well. "That's okay. I've been busy too."

I thought of something. "Did you participate in the Christmas caroling like I told you to?" I smiled when he slowly nodded, reluctant. "That's great!"

"Can it, Solace," He muttered, giving me a glare.

"Your witty comeback scorches me!" I gasped dramatically, holding my hands over my heart.

"Har dee har har," He snorted. His eyes met mine, and I melted the moment I looked into those pools of dark chocolate. "I've gotta go to bed now. Miss you," He seemed uncomfortable now, shifting from foot to foot and bouncing on his toes.

"Miss you too," I replied, winking at him in a way that might or might not have implied anything. A splash of pink colored his cheeks, before, grumbling under his breath about Sun Spawn, the connection timed out.

I waved, and the connection timed out. After an hour, when I was sure that most of my friends would be sleeping, I decided that it was time to acknowledge the holiday. "O Fleecy, do me a solid. I need some presents delivered." I chanted. Since there were quite a few, I felt obligated to put more than one drachma in my portable Iris Messaging device, a prototype given to me by Leo Valdez when he found out that Nico and I were "good friends" and that we wanted to keep in touch.

"Sure thing, Loverboy." The girl who I assumed was Fleecy giggled. Gods, she'd been watching my interactions with Nico. I wanted to hide in a deep, dark hole, and possibly never come out. Which would be bad for my health. Fleecy didn't press the matter, though, which I was grateful for. Once all of the presents were sent to their recipients, I told her to have a Merry Christmas.

"No one's ever really thanked me before. You can have one free Iris Message, no questions asked. You have a Merry Christmas as well, Will Solace."

Wow, being polite really did pay off. I drifted to sleep, too tired to worry about my mom and her evident homophobia.

In the morning, I sat up and blinked the sleep out of my eyes. Opening the window, I let the sun shine its rays on me, the warmth taking me into a more awake state. "Thanks, Dad," I sighed, running a hand through my hair. There were just the amount and type of clouds that were my favorite in the sky today. Apollo must have really asked around to pull this together. I wanted to Iris Message Nico, but decided to spend the morning with my mom.

"You've got some presents from your friends!" She said excitedly, pulling me into a hug. I smiled, but it was a bit forced. I still wasn't too happy with her after last night.

"Merry Christmas, Mom." I said. "I got you something." I handed her a golden bracelet. It seemed to glow like the sun, and had an emerald set in it.

"Oh Will, it's beautiful! Thank you!" She exclaimed, hugging me again and pulling it onto her wrist, where it fit snugly. "You must be very popular at camp," She gestured to the tree. Underneath, there were about fifteen presents. My past patients and half siblings must be feeling very generous this year.

"Wow, I didn't know there were this many people that gave a crap," I commented. She gave me a disapproving look at the word. She had been very adamant that I didn't use any "foul language" throughout my childhood, and was still a bit of an Expletive Nazi. Over the word crap. Gods. I wasn't a sailor mouth, and didn't encourage it myself, but there were ten year olds that said crap, and no one cared. Oh, and this was the woman that used the dreaded three letter f-word. I loved her, but hypocritical much?

"Open mine first," She reminded me, handing me a little envelope. Unsure of what to expect, I opened it and smiled halfheartedly. My mother was sort of a ditz, and she'd forgotten that I liked the group a few years ago. It was the thought that counted, though, and I wasn't going to be an ungrateful asshole. Bright and sunny, that's me in a nutshell, unfortunately.

"Whoa, two tickets to a Fall Out Boy concert! Thanks! You must've gotten this early, it's in late June."

"I don't know much about them, except that you like some of their songs, and maybe you want to bring a friend, or maybe," She winked. "A girlfriend."

Fat chance for the latter. "Mom!"

"Sorry, honey. A lot of people your age are dating. I don't know why you never seem interested."

I shrugged and glanced at the pile of presents. This was going to take a while.

An hour later, I had a few shirts with various music artists on them, and new set of doctor's scrubs, and a few CHB souvenirs that were exclusive only during the winter, and some gift cards. Nico's was the last one, and by then Mom had gotten bored and went to the kitchen to cook something. Nico had given me a little box, about the size of my palm.

Inside, there was a small charm, like one might put on a keychain. It was silver and was shaped like a little bunch of strawberries. I was immediately brought back to when we were thrown together by fate and a certain love goddess. Thrown being a general term. A more accurate comparison would be, locked in a closet of awkward forced confessions and basic inexperience. A note inside read, "In commemoration of Aphrodite's achievement in meddling in demigod affairs." It made me smile. Nico was changing, that was for sure.

I glanced outside, seeing the lights and decorations of our neighbors looking very out of place without the stereotypical snow surrounding it. For someone who disliked assumptions and stereotypes, I sure wanted for there to be Christmas snow. I am such a hypocrite.

"Will! I made some pancakes for breakfast!" Mom called.

"Coming!" I called back, slipping the charm into my pocket and leaving a hand resting over it even as I walked into the dining room.

o~O~o

**Nico's POV **

When I woke up, the first thing I noticed was the small stack of gifts at the foot of the bed. Surprised, I sat up. The last few Christmases had been uneventful, to say the least. I'd, received a Stygian Iron dagger from Hades, which was interesting, as Christmas was traditionally a Christian holiday and Dad was a Greek god. There was a tall, bright lamp from Hazel and Frank. Good, something to ward off the darkness. I've almost had enough of it for a lifetime.

Jason and Piper gave me a carved wooden whistle, which I had no idea what to use for but was grateful anyways. I blew it and a sound came out of it that I wouldn't have believed. It sounded like birdsong.

Leo gave me one of those prank pull-the-stick-of-gum-and-get-electrocuted gags, labeled, "For using on the Stolls - avenge the camp!" Callie had signed her name on the note as well, asking that I give Drew a good electrocution too. The Titan girl could be vicious when she wanted to be. I tested the stick by pulling on it, and regretted it instantly. Let's just say that Hazel wouldn't have approved of the words that came out of my mouth.

Reyna sent me a postcard from Albania with a message on the back, saying, "In hopes that we have some more fun someday, without Athena's presence." Fun? That almost made me laugh. There was a Hershey's kiss taped to the back. It was so simple but humorous (yes, the son of the underworld can see humor) that I put the side with the image of the Albanian countryside on the wall facing out. Reyna was like a sister to me, and I knew that Bianca would be glad that someone was there to be that person for me.

Percy and Annabeth sent me a box of hot chocolate mix. Annabeth probably thought of it. She probably always knew how to give people presents that they'd like, and never had to ask. It wasn't anything excessive, and nothing too specialized. Just a gift from friends.

I was already pretty happy that my friends had taken the time to sent me things when I opened Will's. It was a minuscule gold bell attached to a chain of the same material, meant to be worn on my ankle where no one could really see it. "So you can't sneak up on me," The box in which it came in read. I slipped it on. The weight felt odd and unfamiliar, but I tolerated it.

I took the liberty of sending out a silver charm to everyone, each one shaped like something that reminded me of them. Why charms, I didn't know. Minnie had suggested it, and for once I decided to take her advice. A lightning bolt for Jason, a crab for Percy, which I told Annabeth about previously. It had her rolling on the ground in laughter. I gave her an owl shaped one. Piper got a Venus flytrap. I hope she understood the pun and metaphor. Hazel received an amethyst attached to hers, and Frank got a shark tooth. Reyna had one shaped like a shield. Leo was given a tiny wrench and Callie got a flower.

I went outside, pulling on my jacket. It had snowed overnight, and white flakes coated the ground. I could tell that Leo was in the dining pavilion for certain, because there was a trail of melted slush leading from the Hephaestus cabin. I joined them for breakfast, blinking at the brightness of the day.

"Merry Christmas," I said to everyone, sitting down with a few waffles on my plate.

"You got the gum?" Leo asked mischievously.

"He tried testing it on himself earlier," Callie laughed, making Leo scowl.

"It wasn't funny at all. Thanks for the charm, by the way." He gestured to it. It was attached to the zipper of his tool belt. Callie's was attached to her simple bracelet she'd worn since coming from Ogygia.

The lot of us played a few stupid games like musical chairs in the meeting/rec room, and we had a table tennis match. I obviously was eliminated by Alex, which was almost beyond embarrassing. Kaylee challenged me to a friendly battle, and the current inhabitants of the camp watched as I finally managed to knock her lance out of her hand and end up standing over her, sword at her throat. She tried to pay me the five drachmas from our bet, but I refused to accept them. It was all in good fun, and I didn't need the money.

I shadow-traveled to Will's room that evening. He walked in ten minutes later, and nearly jumped out of his skin. "Nico!"

"I can't be here for long. I just wanted see you and thank you for the anklet, which doesn't actually ring. Exhibit A: I scared the crap out of you just now."

"Thanks for the strawberries," He responded. "An interesting gift on your part." He raised an eyebrow, but I didn't answer the unspoken question.

"That wasn't your real gift, though. This is." I leaned forward and boldly kissed him. Why not? It was Christmas, and I was probably drunk on eggnog or something. Gods, Leo. Who gets a fourteen year old to consume alcohol? Honestly, I didn't even have enough to faze me, but the nog could be my excuse for being so forward. Actually, thinking about it, I should question the fact that CHB allowed minors to drink something alcoholic. But never mind that. Will's lips tasted like peppermint. His eyes fluttered closed and he gripped me so tight that his nails dug into my sides. And now, of all times it could've been, his mom started to come down the hall.

"Will?" She called.

"Bye, Sunshine. Have a Merry Christmas," I whispered, feeling his mother's life force grow closer.

"You too, Deathboy." He answered just as quietly, a strange expression on his face. I shadow traveled away just as his mom came into his room, entering the cold, dizzying void and materializing in my cabin. Touching my lips, I couldn't help but smile at nothing, probably looking like an idiot. This was officially one of the best Christmases ever.

That night, I burnt some food offerings for Hades prayed that I would be the exception, the one of his children that found happiness. Maybe I wouldn't meet an untimely demise. I distributed hot chocolate among the campers and we ate Christmas themed s'mores. Will wouldn't approve of the artificial colors, that was for sure. I even joined in, somewhat hesitantly, when we all sang "Jingle Bells". I sat on the roof of the Big House and watched the stars for a long time after everyone else had gone to bed. It was odd, to be bathed in a pool of silvery moonlight with darkness all around. Maybe a thousand miles away, Will was too. And that night I dreamt of something more than loneliness in the shadows.

* * *

**A/N: *Dodges various thrown objects* I am so so so sorry! I've been so busy lately, and I lost my motivation for updating this fic. I only updated because I felt guilty, seeing as I keep getting follows and favorites. I know that this is a shitty chapter, and that I have awful excuses, and that I've become one of those constantly apologetic people, so sorry again (haha confirmation of my own apologeticness). I will now say right here and now that my update schedule for this will be less than consistent, but I'll try harder to be quicker. Summer approaches, but in the state that I live in, school doesn't end until mid June! In Florida, it ended at the beginning. Stupid (insert name of state of residence here)! So yeah, I spent an hour revising this chapter even more than I have in the past weeks, so of you think this sucked, what it used to be was unimaginably bad. Anyways, I've got to go eat so I don't die of starvation or something. If you've put up with my bullcrap, then I love you! Thanks for reading my long-ass author's note if you've made it this far, and stay awesome ;)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Nico's POV**

Will and I didn't Iris Message each other for a while. Conflicting schedules and schoolwork constantly mixed up our meetings, until we eventually gave up to an extent. Chiron had summer classes that year-long campers could take so that we weren't _completely_ clueless about English, math, science, and history, but luckily, I could just skip all history lessons pertaining to World War II. I could remember those days perfectly well without being taught again, thank you very much. But there wasn't a day where Will wasn't on my mind at least once. It was getting quite irritating, actually. I shouldn't be so dependent on someone. For Hades' sake, I'm the Ghost King. I should walk alone. Should. But I don't.

On Valentine's Day, I nearly passed out shadow traveling to Will's house again. He was home alone, so we had the entire evening for watching The Fault in Our Stars. It was a bit sad, sure, but I had no emotional connection. Huh, I must be dead inside after all. Will was blubbering like a baby, though he refuses to admit it. And that was all we had— one evening consisting of us gorging on boxes of chocolate while watching a movie that did little for me in terms of life lessons. Infinities cannot be bigger than other infinities, because all infinities are infinite. People die, even if you love them. It's not like it's a new concept.

We didn't see each other again until April. I dropped by on April Fool's day, and he was different. I think we both were. He had gotten taller just as I got as tall as he was, which he teased me endlessly about. He was more angular, but not bony. The day Will didn't have the perfect BMI was the day that I discovered that I was a child of Iris. He was upset that it had been so long, but one day was all it took to erase the months of waiting. He promised that when he got to the camp, he was coming straight to me and kissing me in front of everyone, whether I liked it or not. I told him that he'd have to find me first.

And so now I waited, watching kids swarm onto the grounds. Leo, Callie, and I caught up with Piper and Jason in the shade of Thalia's tree. They thanked me for the Christmas gifts and commented on how different I looked. I wouldn't know, as I rarely even came in contact with mirrors. I wouldn't want to gawp at myself even if I did. Piper did, in fact, get the Venus Flytrap metaphor, and appreciated it. Only because Leo wouldn't stop nagging me, I managed to pull the electric gum prank on the Stolls. They both ended up on the ground groaning, while everyone crowded around them, holding up their phones and snapping pictures.

"You were the last person we would've ever suspected." Travis admitted.

"Feel free to join us and Leo in our pranking ventures." Connor offered as Travis went off to find Katie.

Everyone watched as he stopped in front of her. She frowned at him, but her eyes soon softened. Slowly, he leaned down, and she did nothing to stop him as they kissed. More than just the Aphrodite kids crooned, "Awwwwww". Not including me, of course. I was okay with being a stick in the mud at the moment.

In complete contrast, Clarisse pushed through the crowd, eyes fiery. "I can't believe you made me come all the way over here just to find you, you idiot." She snapped. Chris only grinned sheepishly as she hugged him tight, and after a moment, he placed a kiss on the top of her head. A few people stopped to stare at the Ares girl, and she whipped around, demanding, "Whaddaya think you're looking at, punks?"

After another hour of watching friends and couples reunite, I told everyone else to go ahead to the dining pavilion to listen to Chiron and Mr. D's speech. I waited until a familiar car drove up, and watched as Will said goodbye to his mother and started lugging his bags up the hill. When the car drove away, I jogged down the hill towards him, bones from small animals popping up beneath my feet. Calm down, Nico. There was no one in sight but us. He looked up just as I crashed into him.

"Nico!" He gasped. In the split second it took his brain to process what was happening, he leaned forward and pressed his lips against mine. I kissed him back, head tilted up because he _had_ to have some giraffe genes somewhere in his DNA. Ugh, I'm falling in love him. No, don't, I thought. Don't condemn him by loving him. But maybe it was too late. "No audience? Nico, you shouldn't take up a career in advertising." Will murmured, seeming to glow.

"You're late." I observed flatly.

"Sorry, Neeks. My mom forgot to load up the tank and we ran out of gas two hours away from here."

"Why Neeks?" Was a nickname always necessary? Better than Death Boy, at least. I don't like to be reminded that I'm pretty much inherently deadly and destructive.

"Because that's what I'm calling you." I rolled my eyes and hefted one of his bags onto my shoulder. He's lucky that I like him so much.

"Let's not be late. I heard that they have cake." Not true.

"Well you could've said that! Come on! Last one there is monster chow!" He began to run up the hill, but then paused, glaring at me. "Don't you dare, Nico di Angelo!"

I smirked and shadow traveled to the top of the hill. "I think we both learned a lesson today—don't try to race a son of Hades."

"I think the lesson we learned was that you're a cheater!"

"Hey!" I narrowed my eyes, punching his shoulder when he joined me at the top of the hill.

"Ow!" He yelled dramatically, clutched it and sprawling on the ground.

"Didn't you say to hurry?" I demanded, tugging him to his feet by the arm.

We dumped his bags in his cabin and rushed to our tables just as Chiron started talking, going over rules and such. Not having time to grab food myself, I nonchalantly stole a hot dog off Percy's plate, as he had approximately ten already.

"Hey!" He grumbled good-naturedly, giving me a swat. "Nice to see you, too, Nico. You look… well."

"Are you seriously going to eat all of that?" Jason demanded, staring at his plate.

"Yeah. Why?" Percy countered.

"He can eat ungodly amounts of food, as you should know by now from our time on the Argo II." I told Jason, sighing.

"I tried to block those memories out, but now the images of Percy with five syrup-laden pancakes in his mouth have come back." He complained.

As I chortled at them, Will caught my eye and winked. I felt a blush rise to my cheeks. At the beginning of our relationship, we rushed it. I won't deny that. But we have slowed down considerably since. We were now around the point of actually having an equivalent of a ten month relationship. I still felt insecure, though, about what we really meant to each other. But whenever Will smiled at me with that constant sunlight glowing in his eyes, I knew that things would always work themselves out. At least, I foolishly hoped.

Chiron had started going over the rules, and we all grew silent to listen, even Annabeth, who had been in camp for practically half her life. When he got to the part about how a boy and a girl weren't allowed to be in a cabin alone unattended, I cocked an eyebrow at Will and he was the one to blush. My friends cast me a jealous look, despite the fact that they didn't know I was dating. The implication was that I could if I wanted to. Callie gave me a reprimanding glance. I shrugged, returning a defiant stare with equal intensity. A few people looked surprised that the daughter of Atlas and I had such an understanding as friends. It was strange, but it worked.

"Time to put that loophole to use," Will mouthed, and I had to look away, lest I burst into laughter. This is my life now, I thought. And I think I'd like it no other way.

**Will's POV**

"Shh, do you want us to get caught?" Nico squeaked. He'd never admit it, but he does squeak sometimes. It's kind of cute. We were in his cabin, and I was poking through some of his terrible decor.

"I'm not doing anything," I countered, fixing the ugly black sheets that I has been examining and looking him up and down. Nico's face was more sharp, all edges, like the rest of his body. He still seemed slender, almost too skinny, which worried me a bit, but I could tell that he'd trained throughout the year. "At least, not yet…" I pushed him onto his bed and sat on him. His lips curled into a soft smile as he flipped me over easily, switching our positions. My arms went around him, and he rested his cheek on my chest.

"…I love you," I sighed, before wanting to slap myself. I didn't want to scare him by making him think that we were getting too attached. I know that he needs space sometime. Why did I say that? There was difference between love and like. But I did love him! I watched him carefully. He grunted in response, something dark and not entirely welcoming in his eyes. The darkness quickly vanished, and he reluctantly grinned, shifting his position and intertwining our fingers, raising them between us. His lashes fluttered against my cheek, causing my heart to speed up. Nico could probably feel it pounding against his own chest. I could definitely sense his pulse, even without touching him. I have my dad to thank for that. I used to think that it was normal for him to nearly have a heart attack whenever someone got near him. Now I know that he gets all flustered when I'm close by.

"Hey! Who's in there with him?" Chiron shouted. Godsdammit. I forgot that he always patrolled at night on the first day everyone came back, when couples were anxious to get together and make up for lost time.

"We're not having sex!" Nico yelled back, before realizing that he was admitting that there was someone else in his cabin. He slapped a hand over his mouth, turning the color of a tomato and glancing at me apologetically. I pressed a fist to my mouth to keep from laughing at the ridiculous situation we had stumbled into. Nico reluctantly opened the door and saw Chiron standing there, looking threatening.

"Nico! You were always more level-headed than any other child of the Big Three. What are you doing?" He demanded, before seeing me. Shock bloomed on his face.

"I was inspecting his old wounds and testing his power levels, and I thought it would save time if I did it outside of my work hours," I explained, a flash of inspiration forming in my mind as I hurriedly fixed a clinical expression on my face. Hopefully Nico would catch on.

"And then, he pressed my arm in a sore spot, right where a bruise had just healed from training," He continued, sounding annoyed.

Now it got hard. "I know how it must've sounded, but we aren't in any way…" I cringed. Nico's face twisted in apparent disgust at the thought.

"I'm sorry, boys. I jumped to conclusions…" Chiron admitted, embarrassed. Luckily, he hadn't heard our dialogue. That would've been impossible to explain.

"It's okay. I'll just finish up and be back to my cabin." I waved away his apology. "Sorry, I won't be up and around after hours again."

He nodded, and literally turned tail and clomped away, his hooves surprisingly silent. I closed the door.

"Maybe we shouldn't try that for a while." Nico sighed, relaxing and leaning into me.

"Next week?" I asked, still marveling at how well he lied under pressure. I suppose it was becoming a habit for both of us now.

"Okay, but we might find some time in between." Nico decided, toying with his own shadow by stretching it out and letting it fall back into place. I watched it in fascination for a moment before realizing that he was waiting for me to do or say something.

"Goodnight," I murmured, kissing his forehead. He fixed me with a sharp stare. He didn't like to be reminded that I was still several inches taller than him.

"G'night." He muttered, kissing me back on the mouth. I walked out the door, flashing him a little grin before sneaking back into my cabin.

The next day, a new demigod, a son of Athena, watched as Leo chased Percy around while screaming bloody murder. "Here are the Cabins." I narrated as I pointed at said buildings, temples if that's what you wanted to call them. But the boy was watching a few members of the Seven acting completely insane. They really had to cause a commotion while I was on what was dubbed "Noob Initiation"? Honesty, the immaturity! I tried to maintain a nonchalant and professional facade while I witnessed the scene unfold. Admittedly, I was amused, but I was less than impressed by the safety issues accompanying their antics.

Leo's body was wreathed with fire— I could feel the heat from where I was standing, and Percy created a sphere of water around himself, almost like a forcefield. Jason flew overhead, calling, "He showed Calypso "Anaconda"!" Electricity crackled around him as he egged Leo on.

"What?" My boyfriend called back, the air around him turning to shadows and a few skeletons erupting from the ground behind him. They all gave chase to Percy, who was pleading innocence. Nico ignored the skeletons and Percy's screams, curling up even tighter on the bench and going back to his book.

"I just clicked on a link and it took me there! Neither of us could look away. I'm scarred too!" He wailed, splashing water at everyone. For someone older than me, he could act like a ten year old.

"Don't get my laptop wet!" Annabeth admonished from her seat next to Nico. If I were Percy, I would heed her warning. That girl was not to be messed with under any circumstances.

"Jason! Get out of this! It's Percy and Leo's problem." Piper said compellingly.

Calypso stood watching, face frozen in an expression of terror. Her eyes kept traveling to Leo's posterior.

"Enough!" I chastised, bringing my fingers to my lips and emitting a whistle so piercing that all demigods in the area stumbled around, stunned. "Nico, no skeletons! Percy, no more YouTube! Leo, stop burning the grass, Katie and Miranda'll be mad. And Jason, stop feeding the fire, metaphorically speaking."

The new camper, Matthew, stared, eyes wide. "Is that normal?"

"This is our definition of an average day." I sighed, continuing the tour. "…And over here, you'll see the dining pavilion…"

Needless to say, I gave everyone a lecture on how to behave when there were young children around. And sent a video of all this to the Romans. Annabeth, being the one to work with Leo to solve the demigod-technology issue, cut off their wifi for a few days in retaliation. I was lucky that Percy didn't know that it was my idea.

* * *

**A/N: I am seriously the Queen of Revision. You guys wouldn't even recognize this chapter had you read it in its original form. Sadly, fixing the damage my younger self inflicted takes time. Lots of it. So I hereby decree that there shall be at least two updates per month. Hopefully more, once I finish my Mortal Instruments fic, which may take a while. For all of you who are patient enough to still be following this, you guys are the greatest. At least it's summer now. How many of you noticed something off about Nico? Any guesses to why that is? I know the ending was crackish, but hey, I was dying of boredom. Anyways, thanks for reading, and stay awesome ;)**


	9. Chapter 9

**Nico's POV**

Capture the flag. One of the camp's signature activities. Tonight, it was the Apollo and Ares cabins versus the Big Three kids and the Hephaestus cabin. We were outnumbered, but that was an easy fix, considering the fact that I had the undead at my disposal. To my surprise, Percy, Jason, and Leo were looking at me expectantly, waiting for instructions. Usually, I just hung around in the shadows and helped with what I could.

"Uh, I can get the flag alone, Jason can fly and cover me." I told everyone, glad that it was night. "I'll summon some skeletons to help defend our flag. Leo can lead his cabin in setting traps. Percy, you're our scout." Everyone nodded, and I set off, unused to being followed. Even though Jason was right behind me, he had to squint to see me in the darkness. I used my powers to cover the enemy half of the woods in a layer of fog-like shadow and rushed in. Shockingly, I wasn't drained at all. Just six months ago, that would have been enough to make me pass out.

I heard Jason gasp behind me and fall to the ground. I whipped around, kneeling beside him. The Ares campers were using paralytic darts, probably having bought them from the Athena kids. Chiron was most likely scolding them for selling chemical weaponry. Annabeth did like to see Percy lose sometimes. Good for the ego, she'd explained. I dissolved my essence a bit, feeling the bonds that kept me from sinking into the Underworld loosen. That wasn't good. I couldn't do anything for Jason at this point, so I moved him out of the way and propped him up against a tree. I knew that he should only be out for around five minutes, but I couldn't afford to hold back. I froze as a dart hit the tree behind me, and grabbed it before shadow traveling onto the uppermost branch. Clarisse always meant trouble when she was coming at you with a murderous look in her eyes. Whispers and screams filled my ears as I hurtled through my element, and I shied away from them. If Will knew what I was doing, he would have a fit. I reformed only partway, still bound to the Underworld, but quickly solidified. Examining the dart, I noticed some of the paralytic drugs still in it and grinned to myself. I watched from my vantage point as all of the Ares kids had pushed forward blindly, and the Apollo kids followed them, but I waited in the tree until I saw a lone guard. I recognized the guard immediately. Will. Of course it had to be him.

He was hiding behind a bush, darts in hand. I leapt down from the tree and a dart immediately flew towards me— and passed through my body, hitting the oak behind me. "That's not fair!" Will complained as I walked up to him. He threw more until he was weaponless. "Okay, I surrender."

"There's no surrendering in capture the flag," I sneered. It felt amazing, the power coursing through my veins. I knew I should stop, that the shadows were still whispering to me, darkening my thoughts. Something was wrong. But it felt so right. Two skeletons dug themselves from the ground behind him, their faces twisted into permanent grins as they grabbed Will by the arms and held him. Genuine fear shone in his eyes, making me falter.

"What are you going to do, then?" He gasped. I reluctantly banished the skeletons back into my father's domain, biting my lip thoughtfully. I don't know why I didn't just take the flag then. I should have.

I stuck the dart into his arm and watched as he slumped over like a discarded doll. "Sorry, Will." I leaned down deliberately, slowly, and touched his cheek. His eyes followed my movements, shining with anxiety. "And that's why single guards aren't a good idea. Ever." I grabbed the flag, and a bell rang, signaling the end of the game.

And that was when I sensed a wave of pure Wrongness wash over me. There was a flash of panic, my muscles were stiffening, and suddenly, felt like I was drifting.

I did something I'd never done before. A wave of destruction destroyed the grass, bushes, and trees all around me. I could feel the life of the greenery extinguish swiftly, like a thousand candles snuffed out. Shadows radiated from every pore of my body, choking the surrounding campers. And I couldn't move. The wisps of shadow dragged me lower, struggling to rip my soul away from my body. I fought them, unable to understand their intentions. I was controlling them, they weren't supposed to fight me. I didn't want this, and yet they could only follow my orders. Will sat up, stumbling to his feet and stopping to stare at me, uncomprehending.

"Maybe a dart hit him," Austin whispered. No! Don't mislead them! You're wrong! I thought desperately.

"Who did this?" Chiron demanded. No one answered.

"There's something wrong." Will said suddenly. "I don't think he's breathing. And his pupils are severely dilated."

A group of Apollo kids leaned over me. "Come on, Nico!" Will hissed, holding my limp body. "Get him to the infirmary, now!"

Mrs. O'Leary bounded out from behind the trees, scattering campers in her wake. The hellhound knelt, the message clear. I was deposited onto her back, and suddenly was shadow traveling. The darkness kept its hold on me, struggling to submerge my mind into a sleep from which I'd never wake. How was this happening? How could I fight this?

And suddenly, I was in front of the Infirmary. Will and Jason were already there, although the son of Jupiter looked exhausted, leaning against the wall. Will scooped me up and ran inside, lowering me onto one of the beds. I could feel him searching for for something to heal. But there was nothing he could do. My mind slowed, grew numb. Please, no. I wasn't giving… giving up. I— what? It was so peaceful and silent and… cold. So cold.

More voices. Will's brothers and sisters. Wait. Will. Will!

There you go, kid. That's it. A voice. Familiar. Maybe Apollo?

A brilliant light tore the shadows away. And I jolted up, gasping for air. Everyone jumped. Will shooed Alex and Kayla out. Puzzled, they obliged, casting me concerned glances as they left. "Nico! What happened?"

Trembling, I tried to sit up. "Nothing, it's just…nothing." No use making him worry for my safety on top of everything else.

"No! It's not nothing! You scared me, I can still hear my heart pounding in my ears. The least you can do is explain." He pleaded. I leaned over and took his hands.

"Honestly. You wouldn't understand, but I'm okay. I'll be okay." I insisted, standing up to prove it. The world tilted, and I sat down dizzily again. Will glared at the wall angrily, and then stood up and opened the door a crack.

"He's fine!" Will called to everyone waiting outside. A collective sigh of relief followed. For me. It could rain puppies and I wouldn't bat an eye. The door shut again and Will's gaze bored into me expectantly.

"I lost control."

"Obviously. That wasn't you out there, Neeks. But how did you lose control? What happened?"

"I don't know. What if I'm evil? I get angry so easily. Always struggling to let go." He wrapped his arms around me in response, letting out a long breath and burying his head in my shoulder. I leaned into his embrace, warmed by his touch.

"You're not evil, Angel."

"This is only the beginning. Dark things are happening. Fear all around. Sadness. There's something inside of me that has no reservations about hurting people." Good job not worrying him, Nico. Ten out of ten.

"You're starting to sound like Rachel when she's in Oracle Mode." He sat up straighter, schooling the pain out of his features, "I'm taking you to a concert. The mortal world could do you some good."

"Are you asking me on our first official date? Strange timing to me," I joked weakly, knowing as well as he did that he was forcefully redirecting the subject.

"Yeah, your near-tragic demise made me think of concerts. But you in?"

"Of course. Nothing better to do." At this point, I'd give almost anything to be normal for a few hours.

"Then it's settled. Now you get to explain what happened." He pointed at the door. I had a feeling that my friends were waiting behind it, none too happy at my risking myself once more.

"You're kidding me." I leveled my Death Glare at him.

"You brought it on yourself." Will huffed.

"I'm not doing it. They'll be less than happy with me and my antics." I murmured more quietly, changing gears and giving him my wide-eyed innocent look that I hadn't used for ages.

Will chewed his lip. "Fine. But you owe me one."

"Put that on my tab, then." I responded cheekily. I dodged around him and shadow traveled to my cabin before he could protest.

**Will's POV**

Nico blinked at me. "There's so many people!" He sounded a bit… afraid. So uncharacteristic of himself.

"You'll be fine," I assured him, putting an arm around his shoulders. He stiffened a bit, as we weren't exactly alone, but no one seemed to care, so he cautiously relaxed, still glancing around warily. It was so easy to be open in the public, but for some reason, not in front of my mother.

"It's so different now," He sighed, looking around. "If we were in the time period in which I was born, we'd probably be in the looney bin by now."

I shrugged, not sure how to answer that. But our surroundings answered for me. Two young men, both around twenty years old, were holding hands, and the taller of the two turned and kissed the other.

"Can't say I'm not jealous of their bravery." Nico commented, then flinched as the crowd around us erupted in cheers and screams. He looked like a trapped mouse.

"Are you okay?" I asked, concerned at how small he looked.

"Just brilliant." He replied, taking deep breaths. His dark eyes were still darting around.

"We can step outside if you want."

"I doubt we could make in out even if we wanted to." He nodded at the tightly packed cluster of bodies around us. "Nah, I'll be okay."

We talked to each other for a while, then gave up. We didn't want to scream our conversation for everyone to hear. After what seemed like forever, the band launched into their first song, and the crowd erupted in shrieks, making Nico wince again.

An hour and a half later, Nico and I stepped outside. It was, of course, raining. Lucky us. On the bright side, I'd had the foresight to bring a small umbrella. I'm amazing like that. "I think I'm deaf now." My boyfriend grumbled, touching his ears. "But that was pretty cool."

"I'm glad you think so." I responded, tugging him towards a shop across the street. "Before we go, I need some coffee."

"It's like, eleven at night. I thought you wanted to be a doctor. Y'know, and be healthy?"

"Do I look like I care?" I demanded, throwing my arms in the air. "I'm dying and I need some goddamn caffeine." He closed his eyes for a moment, exasperated.

"When the sky darkens, you do too, it seems." I opened my mouth to protest, but he interrupted. "Just hurry. I'll wait out here."

"Here, take this." I pressed the umbrella into his hand and jogged/ran inside, shaking the water out of my hair. The girl behind the register didn't even look fazed as she rang up my small coffee. Avoiding her eyes, I stuffed a ten dollar bill in her hand, told her to keep the change, and dumped a load of creamer into my cup. Casting one last glance at her blank expression, I rejoined the son of Hades outside.

"I'm surprised they're even still open." Nico stifled a yawn. "Let's go." He grabbed my wrist and tugged on it. I rolled my eyes but didn't reply. There was no use arguing. I gripped his hand tight and was immediately hurtling through what felt like a wind tunnel. We were deposited inside the Hades cabin.

"Ugh, how can you do this so much?" I groaned. "I can see why it isn't good for you."

"Hey, no complaining. I even got your coffee here safely."

I looked down at the cup to find that he was right. I'd barely even lifted it to my lips when Nico snatched it and tried some. "Hey!" I complained.

"I only tasted it, jeez. Much too sweet." He handed it back, features puckered in distaste. I drained it and looked pointedly around.

"Good thing that no girl and boy are left unattended in a cabin by themselves," I commented. "And I can't exactly get into the Apollo cabin without waking up my siblings. So…"

Nico leaned forward expectantly.

"Can I sleep with you?"

"Uhhh…" He turned purplish. Not exactly the best color to be.

I realized the implications of my question. "No! Not like that!" My face was probably the same color as his now. "I meant, like, just sleeping."

He looked at me flatly. "Just sleeping?"

"Why are you so dirty minded?" I complained. "Forget it."

"It's fine. Now close your eyes."

"Why?"

"Because my clothes smell like cigarette smoke and booze." He began digging around in one of his bags, and I had to wonder how much clothing he actually had. Basically everything he wore looked the same. When I was allowed to open my eyes again, he was wearing a (predictably) black tee and black sweatpants. "You can borrow clothes if you want…" He mumbled, looking anywhere but at my face.

At least he felt as weird as I did about it. "Alrighty then." I approached the backpack as if there was a venomous snake inside of it. Prodding it cautiously to let it fall open, I sucked in a quick, uneasy breath, swallowed my misgivings, and swapped out my clothes. The ripped gray jeans were far too small and squeezed my hips awkwardly, and the shirt, which probably would've been huge on Nico, was only an inch or two short. I tapped his arm to signal that I was done.

"I've never done anything like this before," We both admitted in unison. Nico's eyes found my exposed stomach, my shirt being a bit too small, and then his eyes flicked away.

"Well, then you won't laugh at me." I sighed in relief.

"I would never laugh at you."

"Liar."

"Well, I would never laugh at you if it makes you feel insecure." Nico sat down on his bed. "You going to sleep?"

"I might take a while."

"And this is the boy who wanted coffee."

"Hey, you'd prefer this to dragging my unconscious, caffeine-deprived body back to camp. And this is now a Judgement Free Zone, don't you forget it."

"I feel like I could sleep for a year after so much shadow traveling." And he did just that almost immediately. I nudged his head onto his pillow and wrapped the covers around him, oh-so-carefully, before balancing on the mattress next to him. He looked timeless, like he could've been sleeping for ten years or ten minutes and you would never know the difference. His dark lashes were almost too dark against his olive skin, and his hair was a bit too long and messy. The spray of tiny freckles across the bridge of his nose added the element of asymmetry to his face. These little imperfections made him seem less like a deity, more like a teenage boy. Someone I could touch without being vaporized. Why hadn't anyone else ever seen his crooked smile and melted? Even when he was holding me down with skeletons, eyes huge and black like ink, face twisted into an almost grotesque sneer, there was that little flutter in my chest. That reminded me. We still needed to talk about that.

I felt a surge of frustration at the fact that I had to hide our relationship from my mom. I was afraid of her hating me, afraid of being disowned or shunned. The rational part of me knew that I was being ridiculous, but I couldn't squash the fear. I was a coward to be afraid of admitting how much I cared about Nico. I resolved to tell her next time I saw her. I had to. I hadn't been kidding in the slightest when I said that the son of Hades was my angel.

* * *

**A/N: I have no excuse. I'm so sorry for taking so long. But when I found out about Rick's new series, The Trials of Apollo, I jumped around squealing and then realized that I seriously needed to update this. I can't make any promises about when I'll update next, but I never abandon. Thanks to everyone reading, and stay awesome ;)**


	10. Chapter 10

**Nico's POV**

I hadn't meant to fall asleep so quickly. I opened my eyes, blinking quickly as I tried to calibrate my vision. Oh gods, it was already half past six. I was going to get myself windows, and I was going to do it soon. No more procrastinating. But I had more important things to take care of first. Will had fallen asleep and was draped over me, pinning me to the bed. He seemed to glow even in my dim cabin. Apollo's son indeed. I shivered at the feeling of his skin against mine, causing him to stir. Damn it.

"Angel?" He mumbled. I had taught myself to stop protesting against nicknames ages ago. His gaze snatched mine. Blue like the sky, when you lay in your back in the grass and let the warm sun caress you and you know that everything's going to be alright. It had been a while since I'd felt like that.

"Time to get up, before anyone notices your absence." I told him quietly. He realized that he was on top of me and sat up. When the warmth left my chest, I felt a strange sense of loss that I shouldn't have.

"Oh crap," He muttered. "My siblings are always up when the sun is. I'd better hurry. See you at breakfast." I nodded silently, giving him a little smile. He returned it, and ran to his cabin just as the Apollo's chariot crested the horizon. I remembered riding in it, back when I was still a naive kid. It felt like it had been decades since Thalia crashed it into the lake. Since this magical world had shattered me and then put me back together.

When we joined our friends for breakfast, we didn't dare meet eyes. Neither of us were ready to come out to the camp yet. It felt like something private, just between me and him.

"You look happy," Jason observed.

"Yeah, are you okay?" Percy asked.

I laughed derisively, earning worried looks from both of them. "Is it a disease to be a happy?"

"Are you drunk?" Jason inquired, concern coloring his voice.

"I'm fifteen. It's illegal for me to consume alcohol." I tried to frown, but it probably didn't work.

"Oh yeah, how was the concert? There were no monster attacks, right?" Percy questioned, raising his eyebrows.

"It was okay." I answered curtly.

"Didn't know that you and Solace were such good friends."

He had to bring it up. Why, Jason? Why? "You could say that. He's always been nice. It's kind of a personality trait of his." I had to be careful with what I told them at this point. Maybe they'd begun to suspect.

"Hmm," Jason prodded at his bacon. "Well, it's good that you have someone to hang out with. We haven't exactly had time, as the members of the late Argo II, to have fun together. It's just been taking so much time to fix everything that was damaged."

"I promised Bianca that I would look out for you, and I'm not stepping back now." Percy agreed.

"Bianca is dead." They flinched at the resoluteness on my face. "I understand that. She's moved on to the next life, and I'm glad that she gets a redo." I gazed around at the camp. There was no visible damage remaining from the war. Even flowers and grass had begun to grow in what had once been a smoking crater. "We don't have to fix everything. We just have to believe that things'll be okay."

"You've grown up too fast." Percy observed me sadly. "Most people don't have this sort of epiphany until they're waist-deep in student loans." Jason made a choking sound, close to laughter.

"I'm a demigod. It's kind of what I signed up for by existing." I shrugged.

"If you ever need us, we'll be there, Neeks. You're our little bro." Jason shook off the dark cloud hanging over our little trio, grinning easily. His glasses were off kilter again, and it was driving me insane. So, thanking them for their concern, I swiftly departed.

The rest of the day flew by as usual. Will and I found excuses to cross paths constantly. We stole glances, spoke in whispered conversations, and attempted archery together (we both were awful), all before lunch. We had to be careful, always glancing over our shoulders to make sure that no one could see. It made me wish that we didn't have to worry about what others thought. It was time to start dropping hints. Will wholeheartedly agreed. He returned my clothes to my cabin and proposed that we try the climbing wall.

Scaling it with ease (or as much ease as one can scale that forsaken death trap) because of my slighter stature gave me the opportunity to watch as Will attempted it. He wasn't as strong as I was, and obviously didn't have much practice, but he finally managed to make it top, flopping onto his stomach and gasping for air.

"You are going to teach me how to speak Italian tonight," He declared once he'd gotten his breath back. I decided to ignore his spontaneity.

"You have to do your weird campfire thing." The Apollo cabin always led the campers in song every night. "And why would you assume that I speak Italian just because I was born in Italy?" I raised an eyebrow challengingly.

Will flashed me a look. "You probably weren't the type to wander the streets of Italy, ignorant of whatever anyone else was saying."

"Small children didn't wander the streets of Italy in the late 1930's. World War II, remember? But I see your point. I'll teach you a few phrases. I refuse to teach anyone an entire language."

"Then I'll await you at nine."

"I'm going to regret this." We sat there for a moment, and an idea blossomed in my head. "Maybe…" I jumped off the edge. A forty foot drop. Will looked torn between trusting that I knew what I was doing and trying to think of how to save me. I summoned my power and called on my extremely limited powers of the earth. Blood roared in my ears, but I didn't falter. Dirt and stone rose and cushioned me— I hadn't even dropped ten feet. Now I was on my own little wall. I gestured to Will to jump down next to me, and when he did, I lowered us to the ground.

"You'd better come through, because I'm skipping the campfire for you." He added conversationally, as if I hadn't just displayed my power over a completely new element. Piper, who was halfway up, and cast us an inquiring look. I shrugged, and she gave me a nod, glancing at the mound of earth that was now flat against the ground once more. She was evidently impressed.

"You don't have to—" I began, but he just shushed me.

"Look, I'll get Kayla to cover for me— she's a pretty good guitarist."

"Okay, but don't blame me when you learn nothing." I sighed in defeat, rolling my eyes. "See you tonight." We finished our chat right on time, because that was when Piper fell off the wall with a yelp, lava nearly close enough to burn her hands. I threw out a hand, glad that the sun was behind the wall, and shadow traveled under the daughter of Aphrodite. I cushioned her fall, knees buckling under her weight. I landed on my ankle with a hiss of pain.

"Oh my gods, Nico! I am so sorry! Thanks for catching me!" She gasped rolling off of me as quickly as she could. What I had done was a lot less graceful than catching, but I didn't protest as she helped me to my feet. When I wobbled, Will caught me by the arm.

"Seems like you're coming to the infirmary with me." He said sternly.

"Oh, hell no." I glared at him. Piper snorted and I stared her down beseechingly.

"Sorry, Nico. You need to get healed. Thanks again, I owe you one. And right now, I need to go talk to Chiron about a few obvious safety issues in this camp." She walked away, a knowing look on her face. Being a daughter of Aphrodite, she had a built-in relationship detector.

"Come on, let's get you healed. Can you walk?"

"Uh, yeah." I tried to back away, but involuntarily made the sound of a dying mouse as I fell, pain lancing up my leg.

"You are so stubborn," He sighed, and picked me up, despite my loud protests and my struggles to free myself. To be honest, if I wanted to, I could've broken his grip, but that would involve breaking a few bones as well. He slung me over his shoulder and I slumped in defeat.

"Is Nico okay?" Jason asked him, walking over from the archery area.

"I'm fine! He's taking me hostage! Help!" I complained.

"His ankle may be broken from saving your girlfriend when she fell off the wall." Will answered shortly, not breaking stride.

"Really? Wow. That's pretty awesome. Not the broken ankle, but the saving-my-girlfriend part. I'll go find Pipes now. Thanks and all." He smiled in an awkward sort of gratitude, and then rushed away before I could kill him. Did no one care that I was literally being dragged to the Infirmary against my will?

Dropping me onto a cot, he used his weight to keep me from bolting. As if I could. "Why do you have such an aversion to healing?"

I lowered my head and scoured my mind for an honest answer. "I don't like to admit to needing help. You could say it's my second fatal flaw, bested only by holding grudges."

"Sometimes you have to know when it's a battle worth fighting." He said gently. "Now let me see."

I lifted my ankle, pulling off my sneaker. "Here."

He held it for a moment. "It's just a bad sprain. An easy fix." He sang a hymn to his father in Ancient Greek. His soft voice soothed me. "All better?" I tested it with my weight, and nodded.

"Thanks," I murmured. His eyes softened.

"Take it easy for a while. Okay?"

"Okay." I responded reluctantly. He enveloped me in his arms and planted a kiss on my forehead, light and brief. I closed my eyes and sucked in a deep breath. "I need to help train some new demigods with Percy. See you later."

"Alright. Remember, no over-exerting yourself." He pulled away, and our eyes locked for a moment before we went our separate ways.

**Will's POV**

That night, I told Kayla to lead the sing-a-long, while I joined Nico in his cabin. "Instruct me, Mr. Di Angelo. I live to learn."

"Your teachers must love you."

"It may be shocking, but they actually don't."

"No way." Nico flopped back on his bed in mock astonishment. "But you're so great."

"Maybe I'm too great. Like, I'm so great that I make everyone else look bad." I played along, running a hand through my hair attempting to look vain.

"They're totally jealous."

"Jealous of this fine piece of ass."

Nico made a choking sound, half laughter and half horror. "Fine piece of ass?"

"You can see it up close if you'd like." I said sweetly.

"Will Solace. I am going to kill you."

"I'm going to have to react in self-defense, then." I sighed. "A distraction is needed." I lunged at him, rolling him onto his back. He pushed me off and tossed me down where he just was. I grunted, attempting to wriggle out from underneath him.

"Not going to work," He singsonged, leaning over me teasingly. I realized that I had underestimated his physical strength.

"Secret weapon!" I announced, and I sat up suddenly, causing our mouths to crash together. He melted under my hands, which were clutching at the nape of his neck. "And that's how you stop a murderous murderer from murdering an innocent medic," I said in my best announcer's voice.

"That's beyond repetitive." He sighed, conflict crossing his face as he debated whether to keep kissing me or to smack me. An idea flickered behind his eyes, lighting them up for a moment. And I knew I was screwed. His cold hands were under my shirt and he was tickling me.

"No! Stop!" I snickered, retaliating with flourish. He jerked away. "Awww, are you ticklish too, Angel?"

"Nope." He answered, too quickly to be believable. I continued my attacks, until he was gasping with laughter.

"Sorry, Death Boy, I think you've been defeated."

"Shut up."

"That's not how you talk to people."

"Yes, it is."

"No, it's not."

"Forgetting why you were here in the first place?"

"Oh! Right!" I blinked. "Well, go on then."

"I'm not a teacher! Where should I start?" Nico wondered aloud.

"How do you say sorry?"

"Really?"

"Yes, really. What if I offend an Italian person? I have to know how to apologize, at least!"

"Why are you so nice?"

I paused, thinking the question over. "I honestly have no clue."

"It's scusate." Nico said with a defeated groan. His accent was polished, flawless, and for the first time I wondered if this would be harder than I thought.

"Scusate." I echoed, attempted to match his pronunciation. He stared stonily at the wall, which he did when he was trying not to show emotion. This led me to believe that I hadn't exactly hit the nail on the head.

"It's too late to try this now. Maybe tomorrow." He smiled winningly.

"I'm that bad?" I wasn't surprised in the least.

Nico nodded. "Scusate."

"Well then." I sprawled on his bed. "I guess I'll lie here, reevaluating myself and my life decisions. Don't mind me."

"Hey, but you need to take at least three years of a language to get an advanced diploma, right? So what language do you take?"

"How do you know this? And why do you think that I'd want an advanced diploma?"

He shrugged in response. A less than satisfactory answer.

"I take Modern Greek." I admitted.

Nico sat bolt upright. "No."

"Yes. It's pretty easy, considering that it's not too different from Ancient Greek."

"How do they even teach that in your school?"

This time, it was me who shrugged.

"I cannot believe you. Do you have no shame?"

"It's not like I'm cheating. I just have a bit of an advantage." I explained defensively.

"But where's the learning experience?" He pressed.

"Don't talk to me about learning experiences. When was the last time you went to an actual school?" I challenged.

"That would be Westover Hall when I was ten. Although technically, I guess I would be somewhere in my eighties? I don't like to think about that. And Percy, Thalia, Grover, and Annabeth saved me before I could finish the year."

"I'm sorry… I wasn't thinking—" I stuttered, angry at myself for being so insensitive. His past, by unspoken law, was off-limits.

"Sorry for what?" He stared me straight in the face, calm as ever.

"Nothing." I replied hurriedly.

"Good." His slow smile revealed that I'd answered correctly. I glanced at my watch, just to give myself something to do, and was shocked by the time.

"I gotta go, I told Kayla that I would be gone for only half an hour. Plus, Malcolm from the Athena cabin has a broken wrist that I said I would check up on."

"Okay." He breathed, paling considerably.

"What's wrong?"

"Shh!" He sat frozen, mouth working silently. "I have to go. Hades needs me for something."

"Why?" I demanded.

"Don't know. I'll be back soon, hopefully." With that, he shadow traveled.

No one was more infuriating than Nico di Angelo. I slowly stood up, searching the room with my eyes as if I could bring him back with my hope alone. After a few minutes, it became evident that he was 100% gone. I backed out of the room. Chiron should know about this.

* * *

**A/N: Okay, releasing this earlier in the day than I usually would, but I'm going to a football game. Um… hope I didn't take too long this time. I'm pretty sure I didn't take too long— a week or two, right? Oh, and on a completely different note, in the dedication of Magnus Chase and the Sword of Summer, Rick made it to Cassandra Clare for sharing the name "Magnus". I might've squealed a bit, mainly because two of my favorite book series were referenced in one sentence. Alright, done rambling. Thanks to you peeps for reading, and as always, stay awesome ;)**


	11. Chapter 11

**Nico's POV**

"Dad, you have terrible timing." The word "dad" still felt strange and unfamiliar on my tongue.

"I'm sorry, Nico. I've been busy lately." He studied me tiredly. "You look like your mother and sister."

I felt hot tears rising behind my eyes, but I rebuilt the dam before they could fall. This didn't make sense, I'd already let go. No use being upset. It must be the fumes down here, messing with my brain. "Have you been watching me?"

He shifted upon his throne, and for the first time ever, he looked a bit uncomfortable. "Not much. A bit here and there."

"I'm happy. Really, truly happy." I informed him.

"Ah, yes, the Apollo boy. If he hurts you, I'll—"

"Dad, no. He won't hurt me. I don't want you to go banishing him to the Fields of Punishment or something if we have an argument."

"Very well. But there is something I must tell you. I probably should have told you a long time ago. Soon, your powers may change. This will happen because…" Hades took a breath and eyed me like I was a ticking bomb, "… you are part κακοδαίμων. Also known as an evil spirit. Your mother had a great grandmother that was one of them. Her great grandfather was a mortal. The tainted genes were slowly diluted though the generations. But since you are my son, those qualities of that… demon… will be activated. This could change what you are. Who you are. I have no interest in lying to you, son. No matter what you do from here, danger lies in your path."

I could only stare straight ahead. My heart was pounding in my ears. I was cold. Numb. "Is there anything else you'd like to tell me?" I growled.

"Nico, I—" Hades didn't seem displeased by my blatant insolence. At least, not yet. Hades's temper was by and large unpredictable.

"If you don't have any information that isn't vague as hell, then can you send me back?"

"You may not survive the process of the dormant genes activating." He offered, knowing that I would explode.

"WHAT?" I screeched. "AND I HAD TO ASK FOR YOU TO TELL ME THAT?"

"You need to calm down. If you stay down here during your…" Again, he struggled for a word, "…alteration, it would eliminate the risk of you injuring or killing the other demigods at Camp Half-Blood."

"I could hurt people?" I demanded, ready to go and destroy the Fates with my bare hands.

"It is a possibility."

"When will this start?"

"Very soon. I suggest you stay here."

"If it keeps me from hurting people, then I'll gladly stay here. But for how long?" My voice trembled.

"Hard to say. A month or two, perhaps."

An entire month. Or two. Without seeing anyone. But the alternative was too terrible. "Then I'll do it."

"Your belongings have been transported to your room." I remembered it as clearly as if I'd seen it yesterday. Always dark and gloomy with bones for walls. I lived in it after I'd gotten Percy to become almost invincible in the Styx. I shook off the ghosts of my past.

"Okay. Is it possible for me to sent a message to my friends?" To Will.

"Just this once. Your sister could visit you, if she desires. And me being Hades instead of Pluto, I wouldn't be too obligated to return her to the underworld."

I took the proffered piece of paper and pen and began to write. When I was done, Hades snapped his fingers and it burned up, hopefully reappearing in the possession of someone trustworthy. And so I began my weeks of metaphorical exile, Hades locking me in my room with a TV, gaming console, and a buzzer in case I needed anything. I had them installed in what felt like decades ago. I'd been such a child then. Not that I was opposed to something that would take my mind off of… well, everything.

**Will's POV**

It had been two days since we'd gotten the letter. Two sleepless nights. Hazel, Frank, and Reyna had come from New Rome. Hazel was allowed to visit him, supposedly. He hadn't told us much, and the words he'd written were obviously scrawled quickly. I recognized his handwriting, though, telling us that he had to stay in the underworld with his father for a month or two, and refusing an explanation. The letter ended with the words, "Don't do anything stupid. I'm talking to you, Solace."

He should know that I don't do stupid things. Reckless, maybe, but not stupid. That would be Percy. "Hazel, ask him why he's there, and don't come back until he gives you a legit answer."

She looked at me for a long time, her golden eyes piercing me. They were somehow as shadowed Nico's, with a dark sort of aura that must be present in all of Hades' children. "You care about him deeply." It wasn't a question.

"He's the best friend I've ever had."

She nodded determinedly. "I won't come back until he explains everything, and proves that he's okay." A crowd of campers had gathered around.

"Stay safe, Haze." Frank murmured, hugging her tight. She nodded, taking his hand and absorbing all the words of encouragement and goodwill before concentrating and shadow traveling away.

Reyna, the Roman Praetor, put a hand on my shoulder, and I jumped. I hadn't noticed her silent approach. "He'll be fine. You know him. He's your best friend, right?"

I didn't know why I was annoyed at her nearly spot-on assumption, especially when all we did was conceal the existence of our romantic relationship. Really, it was what everyone who knew us thought too. "Right," I replied dryly. I shouldn't project my frustration on others, but I was so worried. She left to talk to Chiron, leaving me alone. And so began the wait.

After ten minutes of drifting around the infirmary in a daze, Kayla told me that I could take a break. I was obviously too distracted to be any help. Gods, I needed to talk to somebody. It felt like I would go bonkers if I didn't tell someone how I felt. Lou Ellen. She was my best friend when we were younger, but we'd been drifting apart lately. It was nice to be by her side in the Second Battle of CHB, and I would trust her with anything.

"Hey, Lou?" I asked, poking my head into the doorway of the Hecate cabin.

"Will! Been a while. What do you make of all this drama?"

I ignored her question. "I need to tell you something. You have to swear on the Styx not to gossip to anyone until I say it's okay to."

"Ooh, secrets. Okay, I swear on the Styx." She conceded, green eyes glittering with anticipation.

"I need somewhere that we can't be overheard."

"Done. Thanks to the Mist, everyone who overhears us thinks we're talking about how to cook goat balls." She waved a hand in the air, smirking. I allowed myself to feel the ache of how much I'd missed just hanging around her. "Hurry. I can't hold it that long." Lou wiggled her fingers in front of my face.

"Okay." I took a deep breath. "I've been dating Nico for almost a year."

"What?" She demanded, eyes going wide. "Are you kidding?"

"Uh, yeah, I'm gay…" To my eternal surprise, she dismissed the fact with an impatient sniff.

"I don't care about that! But you've been dating him for so long without telling anyone?"

She didn't care that I was gay? Maybe it would be easier to come out than I'd expected. Nico's friends all knew. It must be liberating. And they still cared about him the same. "Yeah. Don't tell anyone, you already swore on the River Styx."

"I know. I'm not stupid. Besides, I'll give you a tidbit too… I've been dating Connor Stoll for three months now."

"The Stolls are both in relationships? Pray tell me, will they stop pranking people?"

"Will you ever stop wanting to heal people? What do you think?"

"To be honest, I'm glad to hear it. The campers'll be bored if they stop. So does Connor prank you?"

"Actually, I challenged him to a jelly bean eating contest and won, so he's not allowed to."

"That's so very you." I was genuinely proud.

"Why, thank you. Now, if you'll excuse me, Cons and I are going to go mess with Travis and Katie."

I watched in amusement as she bounded over to him, Connor falling into step beside her. They were trying to look platonic, but I could practically see the facade crack as they peered around to see if there were any onlookers. Was that what Nico and I looked like?

I turned my back to give them privacy, and almost smiled. Nico would be okay. Things would go back to normal. But Hazel reappeared, looking close to tears, which shattered everything all over again.

* * *

**A/N: I'm sorry. For the wait, for the short filler chapter. I'm a bit distracted right now, I'm going to see the new Star Wars in 3D later. I'm going on a 12 hour car trip on Wednesday, so hopefully I can get some more editing done. It's actually been several months since I've typed anything new for this fic, and it's driving me crazy. Have a happy holidays, and thank you people for still reading. As always, stay awesome ;)**


	12. Chapter 12

**Nico's POV**

It had been two days. I'd been getting regular meals, but I was lonely. I'd started to feel darkness eating at my mind, the demon part of me struggling to emerge. I feared myself in those moments. So I called for my father, and for the first time in my life, he came when I needed him. Even though he would simply sit at the foot of my bed and study me cautiously, he chased away my nightmares with his presence. All that mattered was that I wasn't completely crazy, that there was more than just me and this room. He looked shockingly out of his element, but I saw now that he really did care about me in his own way.

"It hurts," I groaned, clutching my head as a sharp pain ripped through my skull. Hades's eyes were sad, and he opened his mouth to speak before suddenly standing up.

"Your sister is here, and I daresay she wants an explanation." He walked out, placing a hand on my shoulder and promising to be back before going on his way. I stared at the wall, mind spiraling in meaningless circles. Sister? Bianca? No, Hazel. What was wrong with me? Bianca was long dead. Gone.

"Nico!" Hazel ran over and embraced me. I stared at her with empty eyes. She froze. "Nico? Why do you look like so tired? Are you okay?"

"You shouldn't have come," I rasped, glaring at the floor.

"Well, too bad. I have." She put a hand on her hip.

I looked at her without really seeing her, then pulled up my shield of ice to keep my heart from protesting what I was about to do. "Go away." I had to walk this path alone.

"I promised Will that I wouldn't leave until you told me what's going on."

Will. I snorted. Like I would let him know what was going on. He'd worry his ass off. But Hazel was still standing there, and I didn't know what else to do. "You want to know what's happening? I have a demon inside of me, and it's destroying me. I am slowly losing my mind. It will time for it to die down again and for me to regain control myself. I will get violent and cruel and I'm already starting to. I'm going insane and as I speak, part of me wants to kill you and let your blood color the floor red." I flinched at my own words, and she gazed at me like she didn't know me. "You need to go, and don't come back. I'll be okay. I don't think I want to hurt you." My voice was flat, and she backed away from me. I was in a numb fog now, and everything was distant and blurred.

"Okay, then. Your friends miss you. See you." She turned away, tears falling.

"Later," I muttered blearily, then spasmed in pain, screaming in a way that I didn't know was possible. It was like my brain had been set ablaze. There was fire there, a terrible burning that destroyed me on the inside. I had to eliminate this girl before me. I had to make everyone understand the agony.

"Get behind the door!" Hades grabbed her by the arm and pulled her out just as I lunged at her, hitting the door with a snarl.

"Nico! I'm sorry!" She yelled in anguish, and went silent. Hades had ejected her out of the Underworld. Everything sharpened, and I could see with clarity. Oh no.

"Can you hold it together?" My father stepped back inside, eyeing me in concern.

"Do I look like I can hold it together?" I snapped, pacing back and forth like a caged tiger.

"Do you want to let go? I can put you to sleep."

"Yes!" I exploded. "Just make it stop! Make everything stop!" And the world went dark.

When I opened my eyes, I was chained to my bedpost by the manacles encircling my wrists. I had a feeling that I wouldn't be able to break away. The voices in my head were more familiar now, like old friends that I'd forgotten. No. Shut up. I could think rationally, and I could control my thoughts. I shuddered in disgust at how I attacked my little sister. She'd probably told everyone back at camp that I was a psychopath that had to be restrained, but I was grateful that I had decided to stay here nonetheless. I know for a fact that someone would be dead by now if I'd stayed at Camp Half Blood. It could've been Will.

There was a small plate of food in front of me. I sat in the bed and ate in silence. Part of me wanted to fall into the darkness's welcoming embrace. To shatter the plate against the wall just to see the shards scattered across the ground. I decided to go to sleep.

I had a small digital clock on the other side of the room. It was four at noon when I awoke once more. But I didn't feel awake.

"Nico?" Hades was at my door again. He opened it slowly, narrowing his eyes at me. I tensed, ready to fight with tooth and claw if necessary. "How are you feeling?"

"I don't know anymore. I can't tell. I'm so, so cold." My blood trailed sluggishly through my veins, yet a strange sort of rage boiled in my stomach, waiting to surface.

"That's because you're almost entirely gone." He announced solemnly. I didn't know whether I cared. There was something, though, that kept drawing his attention. I glanced down. My skin was as pale as paper but looked otherwise normal.

It was then that I felt them. Large, leathery wings, each nearly ten feet long, sprouting from just below my shoulder blades.

"Am I going to be stuck like this?" I asked, horrified. The whispers were gone, negated by my shock.

"No." Hades responded darkly. He waited for me to process my unexpected transformation."Do you need anything?"

"I want Will!" I gasped, his face suddenly so clear in my mind that I could reach out and touch him.

"I think not. You'll just do something you'll regret. Besides, I don't allow mortals in the underworld, with very few exceptions."

"Please, just for ten minutes. I won't want to see anyone else for this entire time, I swear." I pleaded desperately, widening my eyes the way I used to do to get Bianca to do whatever I wanted. Part of me cringed away from the flood of emotions filling my soul to the brim.

Hades's face was stony. "Very well."

A smile made its way onto my lips, a shock even to me due to the fact that at this point I thought I'd never be happy again. "Thank you!"

"Don't thank me yet." His voice was beyond ominous.

And he waved his hand, his figure being replaced by nothingness.

I was alone.

**Will's POV**

Hazel had finished recounting what had happened. I'd locked myself in my office, alone with my grief. I tried to sleep, to end the constant state of anxiety at least temporarily. It had seemed like everything was going to be alright. It was an amazing, beautiful summer. And then the Fates mocked me with this.

By the afternoon, I felt like absolutely sick to my stomach. Nico was going through so much and I couldn't be there for him. Percy and Annabeth were quieter, and Calypso didn't smile as much. Hazel, having seen Nico completely broken firsthand, was obviously going to need time to herself. Leo's jokes were halfhearted, and Jason kept dropping his sword during practice. Piper, Frank and Reyna were all unusually jumpy throughout the day. All of Nico's friends were concerned for his wellbeing. I finally fell into a fitful slumber, dark thoughts churning in my mind. When I woke up, I saw shadows wreathing around figure of an imposing man stood before me, and when I looked up, recognition slapped me across the face.

"Lord Hades!" I gasped. Panicking slightly, I knelt before him, ducking my head and averting my eyes.

"Well, at least you know your manners," He grumbled. Something in his voice reminded me of Nico. "My son wants to see you. I will only allow you ten minutes. Get out of there if he gets unstable. At least, more unstable then he already is." With that, my boyfriend's dad opened the door next to him and I stepped inside.

Nico was there. Nico. Sure, he had wings and looked like a ghost, but it was still him. "Death Boy?" I ventured, nervous once I actually saw him.

His head snapped up. His irises were bright red. "Will." Such a tiny, broken word. He stood as if to walk over to me, but I heard a rattling noise and he jerked backwards again. Alarmed, I noted that he was chained to his bedpost. "I missed you." He sounded strange.

"Is it okay for me to come over there? Are you angry?" I attempted to gauge his mood.

"I don't know. Am I? I can't tell." He responded in monotone. He'd gotten worse since Hazel had seen him.

"Hopefully you'd be happy to see me." I masked my hurt with a grin.

"Okay." He sounded bored as he began to try and pull his right hand out of a manacle.

Unable to restrain myself, I ran forward and hugged him tight, careful not to press against his wings. I felt his posture change, the look in his eyes soften. "Will, thank the gods. I need to keep fighting, and you just gave me something to fight for."

"I'm sorry, I feel like there's something I could've done." I admitted, ashamed. If I hadn't let him go…

"No, it's just… a thing that happens. Don't ever blame yourself. You've done nothing wrong."

"Maybe I could try to heal you. Or at least bring you strength." I suggested, clasping his cold hands in mine.

"But you shouldn't waste your energy—"

"And you shouldn't be so stubborn. Yet you're still doing it." I closed my eyes and started to hum a hymn to Apollo. Nico's eyes rolled back in his head, but I continued, trying to weaken the indestructible darkness within him. I felt it buckle under the pressure of my power. And with my last energy reserves, I weakened it to the point where he would be able to control it. Spots appeared in my vision, and I felt myself start to slip into oblivion. Before my eyes slid shut, I saw Nico's face. He was crying. Crying and… laughing?

I jolted awake. I was still here, slumped on the bed. Hades stood next to Nico, who now looked normal again and wasn't chained. "You okay?" I asked him. He nodded, eyes filling with more tears.

"You saved me, Will. I thought I was going to lose myself." He whispered, and he kissed me until I saw stars. I spun him around jubilantly, and realized belated that Hades was still watching with something bordering on an amused expression.

"You have healed my son. For that, I thank you, child of Apollo." He inclined his head ever so slightly.

I was in a state of disbelief. One of the Big Three was thanking me. "Oh, no, sir, you don't owe me thanks."

"I do." He contradicted, so gravely that I shuddered unconsciously.

I decided not to argue anymore, especially since Nico flashed me a warning glance. "I'm honored, sir." I was getting tired of saying sir.

Nico nudged his father. "Dad? Can I go back to camp?"

"Do you feel fit to?" Hades sighed, fixing him with an emotionless stare.

"Yes. I want to be back with my friends."

"Very well. But you need to know something. You're still part evil spirit, demon, whatever you call it. Your other form can be used if needed. It no longer affects your thought process or personality. It is simply a weapon in your arsenal."

"A weapon that I'll never use." Nico added with utmost certainty.

"With great power comes—"

"—great to take a nap?" He suggested.

"—great responsibility?" I tried. I used to have an unhealthy obsession with Spider-Man.

"—sacrifice." Hades finished, giving us an odd look. "With all you've been through, this was your body's ultimate goal. An upgrade, so to speak, that makes your power limitless."

"That could be awesome." Nico conceded. Personally, the thought was slightly concerning. Power was a burden that could become unbearable over time.

"Until we meet again." Hades dismissed us with a flick of his wrist.

Nico dipped his head and took my hand. We dematerialized together.

* * *

**A/N: It's been too long, and I have no excuses. I'm sorry. Life can be shit, but even then literally anyone could find time to type 2000 words in six months. Rest assured, even though I have no idea when this will updated again, I NEVER abandon a fic. For any of you out there that are reading this, thank you so so much for sticking with me. And as always, guys, stay awesome ;)**


	13. Chapter 13

**Nico's POV**

Will's eyes were unfocused from exhaustion. His usual shine was dulled, but he still smiled at me like I was the brightest star in the sky.

"My turn to be a doctor. Go get some rest," I ordered, laughing a little at the expression of defiance on his face.

"But—"

"No cuts, no buts, no coconuts," I interrupted, determined to prove that karma really was a bitch. I led him into my cabin, where there was no one to bother him. He was asleep in seconds, his features growing serene. I watched him for a moment, and then decided to end the stories and rumors surrounding my disappearance.

Everyone seemed to be in their cabins, as no one had been there to notice when we had appeared in the middle of the grassy area. I looked around, listening carefully, until I heard someone yelling in the Big House. Hazel's voice was muted from the distance, but still discernible.

"...And now Will's gone, it can't be a coincidence! He obviously went to help him, although only Hades knows how! We need to find a way to save Nico!" She argued passionately, her tone daring anyone to contradict her. Preparing for my sister's wrath, I walked in, allowing the door to loudly creak shut behind me. All of the head counselors turned to stare at me, including Reyna and Frank, before Hazel practically tackled me.

"I didn't return to be suffocated!" I managed, biting back a grin. "No doubt you're a daughter of Pluto, you're hugging the life outta me!"

"How are you okay?" She demanded, glaring at me.

"Calm down…" I attempted to soothe her.

"Explain." Hazel interrupted sharply. Wow, she's beyond pissed. Not that I blame her.

"Excuse me? I didn't do anything wrong!" I shot back. My gaze landed on the Hephaestus counselor, who was shaking with suppressed giggles. "Valdez, I will rip your guts out and feed them to Cerberus." He made the sound of a dying mouse and backed away. "Anyways, Will healed me. I'm fine now."

"Will? Where is he?"

"He's sleeping. Practically worked himself to the bone, which is entirely unsurprising."

That was when everyone else exploded into motion. I was surrounded by relieved shouts and attempted high fives. "Di Angelo!" "You're not dead!" "Missed ya, man!"

"Okay, no need to invade the personal bubble." I shadow traveled to the opposite side of the room, holding up my hands in mock surrender.

"Sorry." Reyna paused, wordlessly asking for permission. I nodded, and she pulled me into a hug, practically breaking my spine in the process. "You seem strangely upbeat, all things considered."

"It may possibly because I'm miraculously okay." I replied wryly.

"So what really happened? Did you just go nuts?" Leo asked with his trademark lack of tact. At least some things would never change.

"Yeah, Hazel was a bit vague." Jason added.

"Pretty much." No details needed, right?

Annabeth sighed. "I'm just glad you're okay."

"Thanks," I told her gratefully. "I'm going to go sleep or something, but I'll be around for lunch. Make some public service announcements for the camp, something like, "Nico di Angelo is back, so don't freak out if you see him." That would be good."

Leo laughed. "Glad to have you back, Ghosty."

Callie beamed. "We need you to keep these guys in check."

"What?" Leo demanded, mock offended.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." I fixed him with a flat stare. To his credit, the son of Hephaestus met my gaze for nearly ten seconds before looking away.

"Dude you're acting… weird? Like, funny." Clovis voiced what a few of the others were thinking.

"Possibly because Will sapped me. Neutralized my power, if you will. So naturally, I'm exhausted. Once I recharge, I'll go sulk and yell at small children again. Bye!" I strode away, and once I was alone, I rolled my eyes. Why was it so hard so believe that I could be something other than dark? I'd changed, but was it enough to get everyone to see who I really was? Not just the son of Hades, but a fifteen year old boy?

"…So I just walked out, and everyone was staring at me like I was still insane." I recounted to Will, having come back to my cabin. "Are you alright? You're sort of quiet."

"And you just can't stop jabbering," He teased, tracing a finger down my cheek. "I'm going to go take a long shower. I'm probably a mess."

"True." I agreed, and he wrinkled his nose at me. "We'll talk later."

Will nodded and departed, leaving me to my thoughts. I internally debated whether I should test out my new power. Was it worth it? There was only one way to find out. I called on it from inside of me, after locking the door just to be safe. Peeling off my shirt before my wings ripped holes in it, I felt a surge of energy flash through me. My muscles burned and my eyes stung. But there were no sinister voices in my head, no whispers filling my ears. I tested my wings, lifting my feet from the ground and hovering for a few seconds. It was fairly difficult, and I easily accepted the fact that I wouldn't be able to fly, at least not to the extent that Jason could.

I heard someone knock on my cabin and shifted back into myself, pulling my shirt back on before unlocking it.

"We need to talk. For real." Hazel stood looking at me, eyes soft but determined.

"Okay. Come in," I stood aside as she maneuvered around me before locking it again. "You want to know what happened." It wasn't a question, but she answered it anyway.

"Of course."

And I told her, although I left most of the parts involving Will out. No need to test her perceptiveness. Her face filled with sympathy and horror as I scoured every memory for all the gory details I could find. "Do you want to see it?" I offered finally, wincing. Gods, in a different context I'd sound like a pervert.

"If you don't want to, then you shouldn't." She wrapped her arms around herself.

"It's okay. You can see if you want, it doesn't bother me." I pulled my shirt off again,

causing her to avert her eyes and fan herself. "Hazel, you can look, you know. I'm your brother." I bit my lip to keep from laughing at her conflicted expression. "Besides, it's not like there's anything to see."

She spared me a glance. "I don't know about that…" She drawled teasingly, cheeks reddening even as the joke slipped out.

"Good point, I look fucking fantastic," I conceded sarcastically, and shifted. She gasped and backed up a bit, looking guilty for doing so instantly. "Hey, don't be scared. You'll make me upset, and next thing you know I'll have reaped your soul."

Hazel pulled a grimace, blatantly displaying her distaste for my sense of humor. "Sorry, Nico. It's just that… you're actually kind of scary. Not in a bad way, but still."

"Says the daughter of hell and cold, hard cash." I returned, not taking offense in the slightest.

"Be quiet!" She swatted at my arm. "Anyways, it's almost time for dinner. You should get ready."

"Just don't tell anyone, please." I requested softly. Hazel nodded, moving in for a hug, and I made my wings vanish before her hands could touch them. She pretended not to notice.

I headed to the showers and was glad to see that Will wasn't there anymore. After everything I'd been through today, I didn't feel like confronting anything of that sort.

**Will's POV**

After donning my customary Camp Half Blood shirt, I went to find Nico. He wasn't in his cabin, so I found Hazel and asked her of his whereabouts.

"He's in the showers, so unless you want to die a horrible death, I'd suggest not going in there." She'd replied with a little smirk. Apparently, despite how she'd behaved, she didn't know the full extent of our relationship.

When I wasn't in anyone's line of sight, I slipped into the shower room, leaning against the wall and trying not to look like a creep. When he came out with a towel wrapped around his waist, I crept up behind him and grabbed him from behind. He actually screamed, which was hilarious, and then drew back his fist, nearly breaking my nose right then and there, which was a lot less hilarious.

"Will Solace, I am going to kill you, so help me—!" I cut him off with a look.

"I need to tell you something, and it doesn't get more private than this."

"In the shower." He stated flatly, wrapping the towel tighter around himself and giving me his death glare.

"Yup. So, I told Lou Ellen about us. You know, the Hecate girl who was with us when—"

"Yeah. You made her promise not to tell anyone, right?"

"Uh huh. I'm getting tired of hiding, though. If it's okay with you, do you want to come out to the whole camp with our relationship?" Part of me was afraid that he'd refuse. But then I realized that I knew him better than that.

"Thought you'd never ask. Now get out before I summon enough skeletons to carry you to the lake and dump you in." He threatened, looking dead serious, if you'll forgive the pun.

"Okay, I'm going!" I winked and backed out, unperturbed by his angry stare. I bumped straight into Reyna.

"What were you doing?" She demanded. "And how did you get out alive? I heard him scream. Did you subdue him?" Talk about paranoid, I thought, but then again, a demigod of her experience didn't live as long she did without being so.

But all character analysis aside, this wasn't good. A suspicious Roman Praetor was something I didn't want to deal with right now. "I'm not even a fighter! Go ask him yourself."

"I will." She steeled her expression. When her back was turned, I booked it, sprinting in the opposite direction. I heard Nico yell a stream of expletives, some so foul that I would probably never dream them up in a million years.

"WHAT IS WITH PEOPLE GAWKING AT ME WHEN I DON'T HAVE ANY CLOTHES ON?!" He shouted. A few campers snickered. Reyna managed a muted apology which I didn't catch, and stormed out, red faced.

"How did you get away with that?" She asked me again, catching up with me instantly despite the fact that I had a thirty second head start and was still sprinting.

"He's my friend."

"He's my friend too."

"But you're a girl." I pointed out, perhaps a bit condescendingly. Oops. Didn't mean for it to come out like that.

She threw her hands up in the air, scowling. "Fine, whatever. But I've got my eye on you, Mr. Solace." This sparked an unnecessary amount of fear in me.

"Yes, Ma'am." Reyna leveled me a glare that rivaled Nico's and stormed away, probably going to run her mouth off to all of Nico's other friends about what had happened.

Nico finally emerged from the showers, shooting daggers at me from his eyes. "Did you send Reyna in there?"

"No, she went in there herself to see if I overpowered you and killed you or something."

"You? Overpower me? Not in a trillion years."

"You don't say. She was all suspicious due to your shrill screeching."

"I knew I should've bloodied you up a bit," He deadpanned. I punched his shoulder. "Hey!"

"Time for dinner." I glanced at the pavilion, prompting him to follow my gaze.

"Okay. Talk to you later." Our hands found each other's and squeezed for a brief moment before joining the other campers. "Hey, heard that you totally saved Nico di Angelo." Austin remarked. "There's even rumors that you went to the underworld." Kayla sniggered at this.

"Uh, actually I did." I wasn't sure what else to say.

"You serious?" Alex asked, frowning at me like I was conspiring with the Stolls.

"Swear on the Styx."

"Whoa. What's it like down there?" Austin leaned forward anxiously, eyes wide.

"I don't think Hades would appreciate it if I gave away the blueprints of his realm. Besides, all I saw was a hallway and a room."

"You saw Hades?"

"It's not that surprising. We all know the things we've seen since the war against Kronos." I felt shivers down my spine at those memories.

"True." Kayla sighed. "How far we've come…"

"It feels like a lifetime ago," I commented.

"That's enough," Alex ordered. "That war is over. It ended a long time ago."

"There are things that shouldn't be forgotten. Silena, Beckendorf, unsung heroes like Ethan and Luke. Countless others. We need to remember them." I said sharply. "You don't have to think about it all the time, but you shouldn't just act like it never happened. Wasn't that the war in after which the Olympians realized that they needed to acknowledge the minor gods and goddesses? Didn't they learn something that needed to be remembered?"

Alex lowered his eyes, reminding me of Nico with the gesture. "Sorry. I just… I still see the dead bodies of my friends and family at night sometimes, and I wonder if there's anything that could've been done."

"It was just meant to be. The Fates made it that way." Austin cut in gently. We all sat in a gloomy silence for a moment, punctuated by loud laughter from the Big Three table.

The Romans had joined them, and they were currently all ribbing Reyna mercilessly, knowing that she could hold her own. "So, she just stormed in there, and was all like, "Nico! Did Solace drug you?" And I was all like, "GET OUT!" And she freaked and bolted like all the things in Hell were chasing her." Nico narrated.

"Why didn't you get mad at Will?" Percy asked.

"He needed to tell me something important."

"Like what?" Hazel demanded, disbelieving. They looked over at me and I waved, beaming smugly.

"You'll find out," He responded mysteriously, allowing a small smile to grace his lips.

They would? Jason elbowed Reyna, who was still red in the face. "What did he look like?" He asked with a quirk of his brows.

"Shut up, Grace." She gave him The Look. The one that said, "Seriously, stop before I kill you."

"Earth to Will?" Kayla nudged me. "You were staring at them. Nico is your friend, right?"

Either Nico and I were the world's best liars or everyone at camp was blind. "Nico is a good friend."

"Yeah, Nico's cool." Alex added.

"You know him well?" I questioned, confused.

"When everyone else went home for the school year, he visited me a lot. He helped me a bit with sword fighting, and I taught him some first aid."

"Is he creepy?" Austin asked. I wanted to kick him, but I had a reputation to maintain. And I didn't kick people. Or punch people. Or anything violent, really.

"No, he's not. He's just a demigod, just like the rest of us." Alex defended.

"Anyone who's had a real conversation with him understands that." I narrowed my eyes at Austin, and then gestured Nico. "Does he look creepy right now?"

Nico was smirking at Reyna, who was spluttering, while everyone else laughed. Hazel, with an uncharacteristically conniving expression, said something to him too quiet to hear, and he gave her a little nudge, wrinkling his nose before relaxing his features into an easy smile.

"He seems normal. Something just changed about him after the whole Gaia thing. Before that, though, that kid was just… sort of bitter. Lonely. And he kept to himself most of the time." Kayla put in her two cents.

"If you knew the trials he's faced, you'd know just how justified he was in how he acted. He's been through several lifetimes of pain." I realized that I had gone too far.

"And he just told you the story of his life?" Austin asked suspiciously.

"He will to anyone who asks tactfully." I masked my discomfort at my slip up by shoveling some of my untouched pulled pork into my mouth. I really should eat more. Being a doctor, or at least being something of a doctor, I knew how important it was to eat enough.

"No way am I asking him, I don't want to make him mad." He shuddered.

I opened my mouth to chastise him some more, but people were finishing up dinner and were heading to the campfire. Mostly, it had been tall and golden during the summer, but for the last few days, it was more purple. Nico had quite a few friends that were worried about them. That boy was cherished hero. I hope he knows that.

My siblings and I grabbed our respective instruments and gathered around the flames. "Hey, ladies and gents, before all else, Nico and I have got a story to tell." I compulsively announced into the mic.

* * *

**A/N: You guys know that feeling when you're so tired that your eyes sting when you close them? Yeah, well that's me right now. Sorry for not updating faster. I just didn't have the drive to edit, which I know is no excuse and is totally on me. Thanks for reading, you guys are the absolute best, and as always… stay awesome ;)**


	14. Chapter 14

**Nico's** **POV**

"Hey ladies and gents, before all else, Nico and I have got a story to tell." That was all it took for me to know it was time. Judging by the stunned looks he received from his siblings, Will hadn't notified them that we were going to hijack the campfire gathering.

I stood and made my way to his side, avoiding my fellow campers' gazes. Sparing a peek, I saw that the majority of them were watching with undisguised curiosity. My friends were all silent, waiting for one of us to speak.

"Should I start, or do you want to?" I whispered to him, angling my face so that the onlookers couldn't read my lips. In response, he pressed the mic into my hand. A tiny smile lit up his face, but behind his eyes I could see a flicker of worry. It was time to be brave.

"Ladies first." He finally breathed, and I sent a soft glare his way.

"Um, hi, guys. Just so you know, I don't have a script or anything, so I don't know what strange tangent I'm going to go off on in eventuality." I paused to collect my thoughts. "For a long time, I was angry and scared and alone. I didn't know what to do, so I pushed anyone who tried to help me away. On the outside, I began to improve, but it was a slippery slope. The happier I pretended to be, the unhappier I felt. But I grew up. I did what I had to do and let go of my childish notions. When I was captured and held prisoner by Otis and Ephialtes, the crew of the Argo II saved me. I internalized all of my problems and tried to function normally, but I was alienating you guys in the process. I'm sorry." I addressed my friends, who were clumped together in the middle of the crowd.

"You weren't that bad, dude. You were one of us then, just like you are now." Jason called back. I nodded gratefully and continued.

"Some stuff went down as we approached the House of Hades, and I shut down just as I began to consider opening up. After that whole ordeal, it was time to bring the Athena Parthenos to camp. I won't bore you with the details… you already know what happened. Reyna became like a sister to me. Without her and Coach Hedge, I'd be dead for sure. And then I met Will. I mean, I already knew about him but I'd never really spoken to him personally…"

"I'll take it from here," Will murmured to me. "I was always pretty open about my feelings, for the most part, even if no one really paid attention or cared. That's why Nico fascinated me from the beginning. Someone who kept such a large part of themselves locked away, imprisoned within a mask of impassiveness. I wanted to understand him… to help him. And things began to happen." I snorted at that.

"Totally not a vague understatement."

"Shut up."

"No." I smirked challengingly. A few people snickered.

"Fine, whatever. Things happened. We were… friends, in a way. Things got messy at times, but we persisted. It was hard, keeping the secret." This caught everyone's attention, even those who weren't paying attention and whispering to their friends.

It became evident to me that even now, Will was still beating around the bush. I interjected. "We all know that secrets don't keep. So we decided to let you guys in on it."

Everyone was silent for a moment, waiting. And Will turned to me. Knowing what we were going to do, I pulled him into my personal bubble and we leaned into each other as if it was what we'd been meant for. Our lips met. The tension in his shoulders vanished, and he held me to him with one arm while cupping my face with the other hand. His eyes were an inch from mine, vast vulnerable pools of blue, waiting to be judged. It suddenly occurred to me that I should shut mine, so I did. We both heard the collective gasp of the onlookers, but held on for a short moment longer anyways. When we broke apart, the first thing I heard was slow applause. While everyone else was still frozen in disbelief, Leo had stood up and was clapping all by himself, a huge grin on his face. Callie sat beside him, smiling encouragingly. Reyna blinked dumbly for a moment, looking between Will and I. Then, a slow smile spread across her face as well.

"It was about time!" She proclaimed, giving me a hug. That seemed to break the spell. Shouts of congratulations and murmurs of shock were heard from throughout the camp, and a small handful of people looked angry or disgusted. I ignored them. Percy and Jason both looked both blindsided and happy for us, and Annabeth and Piper had the "I Knew It" look on their faces. Frank looked very confused by the quick and unexpected turn of events, but he managed a little grin, too. Chiron looked conflicted, probably realizing that his relationship policies were long overdue to be adjusted. Leo was still clapping, laughter lighting his eyes and sending tiny sparks flying from his fingertips like fireworks. And then I saw Hazel. Her eyebrows were creeping up to her hairline, and her hand fluttered near her mouth for a moment before she stomped up to me, golden eyes blazing.

She turned to Will first. "Thanks for being there for my brother," She said warmly, then moved on to me and demanded,"How long have you been dating without telling me?"

Will and I exchanged a look. "Anyone want to make a few bets before we give you the answer?" I asked weakly. A few Aphrodite girls actually started whispering to each other.

"I bet five drachmas that it was their first kiss," Drew told Lacy loudly. The other girl pretended to look unsure but rolled her eyes when the former head counselor looked away.

I looked at Will. He was trying so hard not to laugh. "Actually, it's been about a year."

"What?" Hazel looked like she was preparing to go on a tirade. "You're my brother. You need to tell me these things. You know I wouldn't judge you or…"

I coughed. The cough sounded suspiciously like 'Personal Business'.

"Well, I'm tired. Goodnight!" Will ducked away from the rest of our well-wishers and was out of there before you could say "What the Hades?"

"Wow, what a coinkydink, so am I! Night!" I made a peace sign and shadow traveled back to my cabin before realizing that it was Hazel's cabin too. Σκατά.

**Will's** **POV**

My brothers and sisters didn't address me any differently after it all. They minded their own business, and I appreciated it immensely. The next morning, after breakfast, I took Nico by the hand and dragged him to the lake. We were going to have a beach party, and he was going to like it. Nothing had changed between us. It seemed like we never should've been so afraid to show what we were to each other. But back to the matter at hand. The party.

Percy, of course, was excessively excited. "Time to face me when I'm in my element—literally." He challenged Jason.

"And what happens when I charge the water with electricity?" The son of Jupiter shot back.

"Your girlfriend, who is also partying in the lake, kills you." Piper yelled from the water's edge. Annabeth smirked, as though Team Mature Female had won. Percy and Jason decided to have a staring contest.

"Are you guys arguing about who would theoretically kill who?" My boyfriend asked, walking up behind them.

"Yes. Nico, please tell them how stupid they're being." Hazel sighed, leaning on Frank, who looked like he was struggling to stay neutral.

"Don't be idiots, guys. There is nothing but shadows under the water." Nico grinned widely, revealing nearly all of his teeth.

"Of course. We believe you. No need to prove it or anything. I'm going to go change into my swim trunks now." Percy nervously laughed as he headed back to his cabin, Jason at his heels.

"Thanks, Neeks." Calypso sighed. Leo simply sulked, knowing that fire couldn't compete with a lake full of water in this scenario. They were all sprawling on a picnic blanket, gazing at the rippling waters.

"Yeah, Angel, you showed them who's boss." I walked up to him and wrapped my arms around him. He started screaming bloody murder and I lifted him up, bridal style, before holding him over the water as if I were to drop him in.

"Don't!" He warned, struggling fiercely until I had to put him back down.

"Nico! I never expected you to think so little of me!" I gasped, pretending to sound outraged. "Now go change so that I can do it without getting your clothes wet."

"I fucking dare you, and we'll see what happens." Looking more dangerous than ever, he strode away. Once he was gone, I pulled off my t-shirt and jeans, revealing my swimwear underneath. The girls had been smart enough to already put on their bikinis before walking all the way over here. Calypso had gotten Leo to wear bright red trunks. He was still silently sulking.

"I'm going to start complaining about how long they took when they come back." I explained, hiding my outerwear in a nearby tree.

"Excuse me?" Nico voice came from behind me. Crap, I forgot that he shadow traveled frequently now. It was the first time I'd seen him shirtless in the light of day. His build seemed slight compared to the average male camper, but lean muscles rippled below his skin. He saw me gawking at him and retaliated by openly staring at me with his mouth agape, widening his eyes comically.

"There's kids here!" Leo shouted at us, tackling Hazel to cover her eyes. She squeaked indignantly and pushed him away. Percy and Jason approached, watching us warily.

"I'm older than you, technically!" She complained.

"Helden sterb nicht." Nico responded dryly, cocking an eyebrow at her but lowkey throwing shade at the son of Hephaestus.

"What?" Hazel interjected.

Even Frank couldn't suppress a smile. "Overwatch, right? Didn't know you also swung by Bunker 9 every once and a while to borrow Valdez's laptop."

"What? How the fuck did you guys even guess my password?" Leo demanded indignantly. Calypso pressed a finger to her lips from behind him, the look in her eyes making her message clear. Snitches get stitches.

Nico tugged his lips into an asymmetrical smirk in response, even going so far as to snicker at Hazel's puzzled sigh.

"Tu Nutrientibus." She responded, rolling her eyes. Reyna had left the previous night, but Jason and Frank were still there to giggle. Ever-traitorous Romans. "Besides, you're from my general era too, aren't you?" I noticed Nico lower his eyes, a characteristic of when he was uncomfortable. Hazel noticed and her smile faded. "Never mind. You don't need to say anything. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have—"

"I don't remember much from that time period. I mean, I knew what it was like, but I don't remember any of the specifics. When my mom was killed, Bianca's and my memories were wiped. We lived in the Lotus Casino and a few decades passed for us in the course of maybe a month. So, in a way, I have no real childhood that I can remember well." Everyone fell silent, trying not to look at Nico with pitying eyes. He turned pink, and I placed a hand on his shoulder. When he shifted away, it hurt, but I understood that he needed to stand strong on his own two feet.

"What happened to your mom?" Jason asked softly, and I realized how little detail most of the others knew of Nico's past.

"Don't go there, man." Percy sounded a bit anxious now. He had been one of the people that had first taken Nico to Camp Half Blood. He must've known what I knew.

"Ask your sister. She'd know." Nico said, a hint of ice entering his voice.

"Thalia?" Jason sounded puzzled at why everyone was staring at him with wide eyes. The rest of us could tell that the subject needed to be dropped like a hot potato.

"Yeah. Surprised that I know her so well?" Nico continued to watch him with an increasingly frosty air.

I leaned close to him and murmured as soothingly as possible into his right ear. "He just wants to understand. He doesn't mean to be pushy."

Nico edged away from me once more, refusing to even look me in the eye. I was beginning to feel as though something was terribly wrong.

"Look, dude, I'll back off if you say the word. But why the sudden aggression? It's like I personally wronged you." Jason spoke with a careful gentleness, unaware of the fact that Nico was tenser than a cat in a dog pound.

"It was Zeus that did it. The Greek version of your dear old dad."

It took a moment for Jason to find his voice. "I'm sorry, Nico. Why did he kill her?"

Nico's expression seemed to turn darker. He said nothing. His shadow was starting to expand, causing the grass around him to wither. "It almost makes you wonder why we don't condemn the wrongs of the gods. Fear is powerful. Invisible bonds that tie your wrists and keep your mouth shut." He finally muttered, a new crazed light entering his eyes.

"Please, Neeks. You don't need to lash out and risk angering the gods. You aren't thinking straight." I whispered to him, taking his hand with a new resolve and holding it tight.

"Let me go," He begged, anguish clouding his face. And I did. I had to. He vanished into the shadows.

"We know you meant well, but sometimes you can't coax an answer out of someone, no matter how persistent you are." Piper told her boyfriend. Jason looked genuinely upset.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to push him so hard. I just thought that it would offer him some semblance of closure."

"Only Nico can choose when to find solace." Percy glanced at me and smiled weakly at his unintentionally clever pun.

"I'll explain."

"Are you sure that he'd be okay with—?" Annabeth began doubtfully.

"I'm certain. Nico's mother was a woman named Maria di Angelo. She was staying in a hotel or something with Nico and Bianca. They were young children. Hades was worried about Zeus's wrath, knowing that he shouldn't have had demigod offspring. He had tried to convince her to join him in the Underworld, where he could protect them better, but she was opposed to raising her family there. While Hades and the kids were outside, Zeus zapped the building. Hades was able to save his children, but not his wife, who was killed. Nico and Bianca, who effectively became orphans that day, were left in the Lotus Hotel for several decades. Zeus, like the hypocrite he is, doesn't exactly seem provoked to combust his own children due to their existence." I recited in monotone.

Jason blanched, shocked at the actions of the king of the gods. Everyone else was frozen in varying degrees of shock, except for Percy, who just looked regretful. He had known this for some time now. No lightning or storm clouds plagued the sky. That meant that Zeus was either not listening, or admitted to himself that there was at least some truth to my words.

"Someone needs to go find him." Jason managed quietly, and all eyes turned to me.

"I'll make sure he's okay." I promised solemnly, turning to face the rows of cabins off to the left of the lake. The air held an ominous stillness to it, like the world was holding its breath. Then we saw it. Black smoke, creeping across the ground and permeating the camp, spreading like wildfire.

I broke into a flat out run, sprinting towards the Hades cabin and hoping the situation wasn't as dire as it appeared to be. Dark tendrils of shadow coiled around my legs, slowing me down considerably, but I pressed forward until I was close enough to throw open his doors.

"Nico!"

* * *

**A/N: Shit… sorry, that took way too long. A lot of tough stuff to deal with happened in my life, stuff that's sort of personal, so forgive me if I don't elaborate. I was in a pretty bad way for a couple of weeks, but I'm doing better now. I'm in the LA area right now, visiting family, so on Friday when flying back to the east coast I'll try to continue the editing grind. Hope you all had a fantastic holiday season, no matter what specific holiday(s) you celebrate (or lack of). If you're still here waiting for my slow ass to post new chapters, thanks. It means a ton to me. Anywho, don't hesitate to comment or PM if you have anything to say, and as always… stay awesome ;)**


	15. Chapter 15

**Nico's POV**

I knew I shouldn't have overreacted. Jason hadn't done anything wrong. It wasn't his fault that he had questions, just as it wasn't his fault that my mother had been dead for several decades. And yet anger was burning in the pit of my stomach. Hissing in frustration, I splayed my hands, expelling a cloud of darkness which swirled around the cabin. I could hear campers' exclamations of shock when they saw the shadows thickening. They expanded until the entire camp was covered in a black fog. Even though I couldn't see it, I could feel them spreading. My demonic heritage manifested itself in my physical form, setting my veins on fire. I spread my wings, lifting off the ground when the shadows started to make me drowsy upon contact. Toxic. Just like me.

"Nico!" I heard Will yell as he barged into my cabin. He slowed, hit by a wave of poisonous smoke. Seeing his eyes glaze over, I immediately reached out to my power and drew it back in with every ounce of strength still in me. It weighed down my bones, and for a second, the pain was so great that it sent me to my knees. Will was instantly at my side, helping me into a sitting position as if I were indescribably feeble.

"Sorry," I muttered, still too frustrated to shift back into myself. It had been so easy to let go of my inhibitions in a fit of emotion, to allow the restless energy inside of me to reign free.

"Are you okay?" Will placed his hands in mine. Upon my nod of confirmation, he continued. "Jason really is sorry. He didn't mean to upset you."

"It's not Jason. It's me. What's wrong with me, Will? I'm still sad and bitter, deep down inside, and I shouldn't be. I've tried so hard to change. I like to think that I did. You make me better, take everything in me that's broken and mend it."

He hugged me to him, trying to shield me from everything that hurt. But try as he might, he couldn't protect me from myself. My wings were large enough to wrap around the two of us, as if we were in a little tent together, and I did just that, melting in his arms. "I don't know what's happening, and I don't know what to do any more than you do. But no matter what happens, I'll be with you." Will whispered. Our gazes met, and without any further encouragement, I leaned forward. Our lips fit together, as if they were made to meet, and Will was gripping me like he'd never let go. My heart felt too big to fit in my chest. Butterflies filled my stomach. My eyes fell shut, and the only things I could feel were his mouth moving against mine and the places where his hands met my skin. After a heartbeat and an eternity all at once, we pulled apart.

I opened my eyes. My form had stabilized into something more or less human, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Suddenly, a wave of exhaustion rolled over me. Feeling as though my bones had turned to lead, I watched from a third person point of view as Will tried to shake me awake. Threats to banish me into the infirmary if I fell unconscious fell from his mouth in a wave of thinly veiled concern. I tried, I really did, but it all became too much.

Indistinct voices washed over me like waves. I jerked awake, sucking in a deep breath of air, and Will's face came into focus. His nose was an inch from mine. I gasped, jumping to my feet. But I also stumbled, unable to regain my balance, and blindly flailed around for something to steady myself with. Which happened to be my boyfriend. With a squawk, he was dragged onto the ground. "Nico! You seriously decide to wake up just when I was done dragging you over here?"

"So I wasn't out for too long?"

"Only about ten minutes, tops."

I hesitantly stood once more. Will held my hand, supporting me. "I'm fine," I said after a moment, waving him off. He reluctantly let go. I straightened up. "I'm going back to the lake to apologize for overreacting."

"You weren't overreacting!" He protested. I gave him a long look. "You weren't!"

"Whatever. You coming?"

"I just need to change Katie's bandages one last time. I'll see you in a few minutes." Will said regretfully.

"That's fine. See you." I gave him a quick kiss and slunk out, trying to keep to the shadows so that no one would see me. The last thing I wanted right now was a bombardment of questions. When I made it back to the lake, Percy, Jason, and Hazel, were all arguing, and their girlfriends and boyfriend were trying to break it up. Callie and Piper were Charmspeaking as much as they dared without dominating the situation, while Leo was trying to disengage Jason with some pretty strong words of his own. Frank had a hand on my sister's shoulder, and Annabeth looked like she was about to smack Percy. I watched this uncomfortably before clearing my throat.

"Stop fighting! I was being an idiot, and I don't know what got into me. I'm sorry." I raised my voice above the din.

"Nico, we saw the shadows. I—" Jason began, but before he could finish, I pushed him into the lake.

"Who's next!" I yelled, my gaze flicking from one friend to another. A grin slowly spread across my face, and in half a second, the son of Poseidon hit the water as well. Once everyone realized that I was joking, they joined in the revels.

Percy cackled like a madman, all previous unhappiness gone. His anger never lasted. He held out his hands and doused everyone, including Will, who'd just arrived. Soon things dissolved into chaos, as my friends and I were tossed around like toys in a bathtub.

I caused tendrils of darkness to tug at people's ankles at random intervals, but Will countered me by dispersing them with his inherent brightness.

Percy, of course, was sitting on top of a tower of water, one arm around Annabeth while lobbing balls of water at us from fifty feet above.

Jason was creating pockets of air underwater and kissing a blushing Piper, causing Percy to yell, "Make up your own moves, Lightning Boy!"

Hazel's hair was drifting around her in ringlets as she floated on her back, and Frank had turned into an otter and was swimming around her in circles, flicking droplets at her every once in a while. She giggled, eyes shining like new pennies.

Callie was laughing at Leo's attempts to turn the lake into a giant hot tub. Steam was rising from the lake in thick clouds, to the confusion of the campers who were arriving for the party.

The Demeter cabin brought tortilla chips and salsa, and the Hecate cabin helped the Hephaestus cabin set up the food tables and DJ booth. By then, the original ten of us had gotten out of the lake, unwilling to become waterlogged. I told Jason that we wouldn't speak of our little disagreement again, and he agreed wholeheartedly. Now, we were watching Leo eat ungodly amounts of hot sauce with his chips. The pinnacle of entertainment.

"How are you human?" Will demanded.

"I often wonder that myself. There's no way of categorizing this living lump of charcoal here." Callie teased, stealing a chip from Leo's hand and popping it into her mouth. Her eyes widened. "Yo wier! Dis ish bahbecoo shawsh!" She mumbled, swallowing with difficulty.

"Oh my Gods, Leo, I put money on you!" Percy complained.

"You owe me ten bucks." Jason smirked.

"He totally set you up," Annabeth sighed. "You are so gullible, Seaweed Brain."

"You didn't exactly call him out when we shook on it, Wise Girl."

"Piper asked me not to. Jason rarely wins bets."

"Betrayed by the love of my life."

"Get rekt?" Hazel tested out the phrase.

"Yup," Frank chuckled, working on untangling another strand of her hair. Her curls had become matted and frizzy upon prolonged exposure to water. Leo sidled over, offering to let her use his fingers like a hot comb.

"Time for the real fun to begin." Will announced. His eyes sparkled mischievously at me, and I rolled my eyes, allowing him to grab me by the wrist and drag me into the crowd.

**Will's POV**

Nico raised an eyebrow at me, laughing, as I pulled him along. Alex had claimed his position as DJ, and was playing techno music. No surprise there. "We could to do some water balloon fighting."

"Percy will just kick our asses." Nico protested, eyes growing wide. I'd noticed that their color fluctuated, flickering with brief glimpses of red. It was almost impossible to notice unless I really focused on them, but once I saw the ominous gleam, I couldn't unsee it.

"Your irises. They keep turning red." I told him worriedly. He frowned.

"What?"

"Check a mirror."

"No need." He sprinted back down to the lake, and I followed at his heels. The afternoon sun reflected off of it at just the right angle to see reflection. "Oh."

"What does it mean?" I asked, feeling a sharp sense of foreboding.

"I don't know! Maybe I'm going crazy!" Nico shot back defensively, a literal red-hot flash of anger sparking in his glare. His sudden anger rendered me mute with shock.

In the water, a few of the younger kids were playing Marco Polo. One of them accidentally splashed him, and the guilty girl gasped. I stepped forward, ready to intervene, but his features melted into a kind smile. "Hey, it's fine," He called to her. She blinked, as though not expecting forgiveness, then continued to borderline-violently dunk her friends underwater in an obvious infringement of the rules. A daughter of Ares for sure.

"You're coming with me to the infirmary before you lose it again." I hardened my voice, unwilling to budge and unsure as to whether he was thinking clearly. If he flew into another rage, he could hurt himself or another camper.

"I… what?" If anything, Nico simply looked puzzled, as if waking from a dream. "Lose it? I didn't lose it…" Doubt crept into his face, mingled with panic. "Did I?"

"You didn't do anything other than shout at me. It's okay." I took his hand, and he interlocked his fingers with mine as we walked to the infirmary together. They were trembling slightly, and he refused to meet my eyes.

"It would be easy to blame it on the demon." Nico whispered once I'd locked the door behind us. "But… that demon is me."

"You'll be okay. It's still new to you, and you'll learn to… get it under control." A note of desperation entered my voice as I struggled to find a way to comfort him.

"I hope so." My boyfriend's shoulders drooped, and he worried his lower lip between his teeth. I plopped down on the cot beside him.

"Hey. I won't let you do anything you wouldn't do in your right mind."

"What if I hurt you?"

"You won't. I trust you."

"At least someone does."

"I love you, but my trust isn't enough. To find your strength, trusting yourself is a necessity." I cupped his cheek with a hand, and he placed his hand over mine.

"I want to. But I can't. I have to have a tight rein of control at all times, or else…" he trailed off, the implication clear. "You know what they say. Constant vigilance."

"Some Mad-Eye Moody never goes amiss." I agreed with a small grin. "If you've got it on lock, I'm not suggesting to change what you're already doing. As long as it works for you, I'm happy. So let me know if you feel unstable. I'll help the best I can."

"It was a slip. It won't happen again." Nico vowed darkly, more to himself than to me. The intensity in his gaze softened, and our noses bumped together almost painfully; we'd tried to go for a kiss at the same time.

For some reason, this was so hilariously unexpected that I laughed until my stomach hurt. I looked over at Nico and saw him bent over, almost in a fetal position, giggling like someone'd hooked him up to nitrous oxide. "You okay there, Angel?"

"No, my arms have been lopped off. Some doctor you are, Sunny Side Up." He tried to answer dryly, but he was still winded from trying to catch his breath.

I shook my head fondly. "We should get back to the others."

"What are we waiting for, then?" With a good-natured eye roll, the son of Hades opened the door and beckoned. His silhouette was framed in the doorway as the remaining daylight leaked into the dimly lit room. I blinked, momentarily frozen, and followed. Our friends were somehow, against all odds, still bickering over the semantics of whether Percy really owed Jason ten bucks. As we grew closer, they noticed our arrival.

"Ew, we all know that y'all were doing the nasty." Leo mock-leered at us, an impish grin pulling at his lips.

"Well, at least we have the decency to spare your eyes." Nico replied with a raised eyebrow, pointing a finger at Percy and Annabeth, who simultaneously turned red.

"Shut up, Death Child." Percy hissed, as Annabeth covered her face. "It was one time."

"Don't tell me to shut up." Nico threatened casually, draping an arm over my shoulder.

"Yo, nerds. What's up?" Connor Stoll approached us, an unnerving lack of sneakiness on his face. Without waiting for any of us to answer, he continued. "If you see Lou Ellen, please don't tell her where I am. Because she will actually fucking kill me. And Travis isn't being helpful at all because he's too busy locking lips with Katie."

"What did you do?" Frank asked, puzzled.

Before they received an answer, Lou tackled him, putting him in a headlock. "Trying to hide, weren't you, you little shit?!"

"This bitch is crazy!" He yelled.

"And proud of it! I won the goddamn jelly bean eating contest, and therefore you weren't supposed to prank me!" At this point, they were all snickering.

I turned to stare at Nico, watching his profile glow under hues of purple, red, and orange. The sun had begun to set, doing so in an explosion of stunning color. Thanks, dad.

I was broken out of my reverie when Nico gasped in horror. My boyfriend's head snapped around, focusing on something behind me as distress emanated from every particle of his being. "Brace yourselves!" He managed to shout, before something that sounded like a bomb going off sent my head buzzing.

* * *

**A/N: Realtalk, I wrote this chapter nearly two years ago, and thus there were some parts so thoroughly cringeworthy that I had to cut large parts of it and fill it back in with less terrible content. It honestly probably would've been ready faster if I'd just redone it all, but alas, laziness shall be my undoing. My apologies if this therefore has the literary appearance of Frankenstein's monster. Anyways, thanks for reading, y'all are literally the best, and as always... stay awesome ;)**


	16. Chapter 16

**Nico's POV**

I clapped my hands over my ears as the explosion rocked the camp. The screams of younger children filled the air, while the more experienced demigods grabbed weapons. Frank transformed into a dragon and began to approach the smoking crater.

"Stay back! There's something very ancient and powerful in there." I closed my eyes, feeling Will's grip on my arm tighten as I fell into a trance, leaving my body behind. I guided my spirit forward, being sucked back into my body with a snap when I realized who it was.

The campers had backed away from the site of impact at my outburst, and were all staring at me, wanting to know exactly what it was. Will's wide eyes pierced mine, a cold distance expanding within them as he prepared for a fight, muscles tensing.

"Penthos. Spirit of grief, mourning, and lamentation. Son of Gaea. We meet again." I said coldly, extending my hand. My Stygian Iron sword flew out of the earth and landed in it.

The blurred figure of an enormous man flickered into view. "Nico di Angelo. Such a pleasure," He boomed, the sound of his voice sending a shiver of dread down my spine. "I believe you know what I want from you. You used to be of so much use to me. But then that boy ruined everything." His gaze zeroed in on Will.

I stepped in front of Will, concealing him as best I could with my narrow frame. My shoulders tensed, and my knuckles turned white from how tightly I gripped my sword. Everyone was frozen in shock. "Don't you dare touch him, or I'll banish you to the depths of Tartarus."

"Oh, but child, you know how much I adore that place. Not the best tourist destination, but altogether a nice little locale."

"Leave. Now." I could feel myself losing control again, the demon inside of me trying to surface. The thing was, I wasn't sure whether I wanted to fight it.

"I believe I'll stay. Nico, don't you remember your sister, Bianca? She must think that you don't care anymore, that you've moved on without her."

"It's what she wanted. She said it herself." I snapped, feeling a crushing sense of grief overwhelm me. "Stop tampering with my emotions." If he didn't back off, I'd unleash my demon. And he didn't particularly care for emotions other than rage.

"And your mother, the beautiful Maria, she loved you so. But you remember next to nothing of her." Penthos continued mockingly.

"Leave him alone!" Will snarled, our friends flanking him. The rest of the campers followed, a sea of eyes glaring at him.

"How adorable." He send of bolt of energy into my chest, and it felt like my heart was filling with shards of ice. I pressed my lips together and tried to stop my eyes from welling up. Dark memories swirled in my head, drowning me. "If you won't fuel me, your friends will."

Before I could move, he blasted Annabeth. She collapsed, sobbing. Annabeth, always the brave, strong girl that everyone could depend on. Reduced to a teary wreck in seconds.

"You can't fight him." She gasped, trying to wave Percy off. "Luke…" The single name was fraught with the pain of several lifetimes, far more than she could ever live to see. Percy's eyes filled with rage. And that was the last straw. This had to stop.

I felt my wings burst from just below my shoulder blades, and a prickling sensation rolled over my skin. "I'll kill you." I rose into the air, until I was level with his eyes. I conjured all of the shadows of the falling night. A huge, black cloud swirled around me, and with a twitch of my fingers, a sea of skeletons poured out of a fissure in the ground. I heard gasps from the crowd below. They'd never seen me like this, in a mindless fury. The animated bones dragged Penthos into the fissure, slowly but surely. The sheer number of them was actually prevailing.

He hit Minnie and Jason in quick succession. They both dropped like flies, chests heaving as they tried to fight his power. "You will only empower me by banishing me to the Underworld." He growled, sending a steady flow of grief into my body. I felt it flowing through my veins, weighing me down. Although it didn't affect me emotionally, it began to act as a numbing agent. I had to fight to keep my wings beating.

"Good point. Maybe you'd like to take up Prometheus's punishment instead. I hear that eagle's getting hungry." I smiled, revealing slightly pointed teeth. He shrieked, flying into a frenzy and making a wild grab for me. Had he succeeded, he could've crushed me like a tin can. But waves of darkness rolled off of me, choking him and suffocating him. It ate away at his very being, dissolving him until there was nothing left. He'd soon find himself, chained and alone and far, far from here. I fell too, just as Lucifer did when cast out of heaven. I hit the ground with a resounding thud, weaker than I had been in years. It took everything I had not to pass out. The three people who had been victims of lament were now recovering, staggering to their feet.

"Nico!" Will scooped me into his arms. "Are you okay?"

"He needs ambrosia," Chiron told Kayla briskly, then knelt beside me as well.

"Who are you?" I croaked hoarsely, trying to sit up and failing when my arms buckled beneath me. There was an intake of breath from all sides.

Will simply rolled his eyes, much to the onlookers' disbelief. "Nico, that's not even vaguely funny."

"Okay, maybe not. I was trying to lighten the mood. Jeez." I kissed him hard, hugging my arms around his shoulders. If Penthos had tortured him… I had no idea what I would've done.

"How did his attacks not affect you? I could barely stop focusing on everyone I know who died." Annabeth asked me, wiping the last stray tears from her cheeks.

"He amplified my pain when I was mourning Bianca. After that, nothing could top it." I replied solemnly, hearing a murmur of pity from the crowd. Little did they know that it was only part of the truth. For a moment, I'd become the monster that felt no sorrow, only an obsession for destruction. It had shielded me from the brunt of the damage.

"Are you okay? Using your powers like that should've turned you to dust." Will probed me carefully.

"I'm officially out of commission. And I will be, for quite some time. My powers have shut down. It doesn't feel as bad as I thought it would. Just kind of... empty." I told him calmly.

"Oh, Nico." Hazel sounded like her heart was breaking for me.

"It's really okay. I don't mind. Penthos is gone. That's all that matters."

"Look. Maybe you're not as powerless as you thought." Piper touched my shoulder, gesturing at a tiny little wisp of a shadow darting around my heels like a lost puppy. I scooped it up into my hands, staring at it apathetically before realizing that I was still being watched.

"Want to hold it?" I asked Jason, who looked mortally embarrassed after his breakdown. He seemed a bit nervous as he reached for it. The wisp reluctantly drifted onto his palm, and he managed to grin, squeezing Piper's hand with his free one.

"Pretty cool," He admitted, "and less creepy than I thought."

"That's the end of it, then. You have control." Will smiled softly at me, offering an arm for me to cling to as we returned to the infirmary for the third time today.

He couldn't have been more wrong.

**Will's POV**

Nico did eventually regain his former strength, but only after several weeks. It was a long road to recovery, and I'd expected to see him try to put up a fight, to escape from the infirmary whenever possible. But he never once admitted that he felt like crap, never once complained about the fact that he could do nothing but sit on a cot and rest for an entire week. Hazel and Frank had to leave, and Hazel made me promise to update on her brother's condition.

I had stayed up many nights, watching him to make sure he didn't fade away. He had become quite popular with the camp. Everyone was bringing him gifts and visiting him, asking how he felt. He seemed surprised every time, as if he couldn't believe that they were talking with him. Exhausted, lost in my thoughts, the rhythm of his chest rising and falling lulled me to sleep…

"Will, I can't believe you've made this decision, to go throw your life away!" Mom screamed, her face twisted in anger.

"It's not my fault, and it's not my decision to be gay! There's nothing wrong with it! I'm happy with Nico! I'm not throwing my life away!" I yelled back, flinching at her sharp words.

"No one is born a faggot! I can't believe you're my son!" She spat, sneering at me in disgust. "It was Nico that corrupted you, wasn't it? I won't stand for this. He's sick in the mind."

"Leave him out of it! If you don't accept me, then you never loved me, because this is who I've always been!" My throat was raw from unshed tears.

"Then I guess you never were really my son. Get away from me." She backhanded me so hard that I saw stars. My gentle, sweet mother. Or maybe I never really knew her.

"Will!" There was a different voice now. Frantic, compassionate. Nico. I jolted awake. Morning light streamed in through the windows. And my boyfriend was on the ground, trembling. In my sleep, I'd lashed out at him.

"Oh gods, I'm so sorry!" I noticed that my hands were still glowing and put them out. Any attempt to help him up was unsuccessful. His skin was as hot as fire. Without opening his eyes, he groaned.

"You started hyperventilating. I kept on shaking you, but you wouldn't wake up. And then you started glowing. Some light cut straight through my chest." Nico whispered. He opened his eyes, and I gasped, jumping away instinctively. His irises were glowing gold, like Hazel's, but like sunlight more than the metal.

"I think it's inside of you… you need to get it out, fast!" My voice broke when he began to writhe in pain.

"It's burning!" He screamed, waking up the other campers with his torn yell. Panicking, I was ripped from my paralysis of inaction. I turned off the lights, shut the windows, and the shadows came to his rescue. They fought against the light like water on fire. It took a thousand lifetimes (or a few heartbeats), but eventually his eyes and chest stopped glowing. He fought for breath, drawing on the darkness for power and energy. It took a long moment, but he finally straightened up. "Ow. That hurt a shit ton."

"I'm so, so sorry." I backed away from him as he tried to touch me. "Don't. I don't want to hurt you again."

"Don't be an idiot, it wasn't your fault. You weren't even conscious." He protested, even though his face was still pale and drawn. I didn't blame him; he'd felt the heat of the sun inside of him. It was a miracle he hadn't burned up.

"No, I should've controlled myself more." I was now up against the wall. In the aftermath of my nightmare, from sleeping into wake, my hands began to glow again. I hadn't lost control like this since I was around ten years old. I'd almost killed a friend of my mom's back then. History repeats. I saw Nico flinch when my fingers ignited and felt a crushing sense of guilt. I dodged around him and slipped out the door, where a group of people (some still wearing pajamas) stood outside. The air around my hands was practically sizzling with heat.

"What happened? Was that Nico who was screaming?" Jason peered over my shoulder, worried, to where Nico had collapsed again, trying to stand up and pursue me. His eyes met mine, dark and pleading. A few shadows crept towards him, ready to be used. He was going to attempt to shadow travel after me.

I shook my head, just the tiniest bit. He hesitated, then stopped. Kayla had rushed to his side, speaking to him urgently. Knowing that he was in good hands, I shoved my clenched fists into my pockets and escaped into the woods. Approaching Zeus's Fist, I reluctantly sat with my back against it, pressing my palms against the dirt. My mom would never be like that. She'd never made homophobic remarks in front of me before, except for her comment at Christmas. Even then, it didn't mirror the intensity of what I'd experienced in my nightmare.

Hearing footsteps, I looked up, torn from my whirlwind of thought. A petite dryad girl with amber hair and green eyes paused and blushed, her cheeks turning green instead of red.

"Oh! Sorry, I heard someone and thought you were Grover. There's a big hubbub around the infirmary and I was worried that someone was seriously hurt. What's going on?"

"Juniper? It's been a while. I barely recognized you. You're looking well." I began evasively, my guilt coming back around full swing.

"Will Solace, I believe we have indeed met once before. You also look well." She tilted her head, gaze piercing me like a spear. She obviously could tell that I was dodging the question.

"Nico got… burned. You may be familiar with him." Her eyes widened upon hearing the name, and I watched with a distant fascination as her cheeks filled with chlorophyll instead of blood, coloring her skin once more.

"Nico di Angelo? Oh! I'll go check on him!" She ran down the hill and into the camp, feet now skimming the ground like a breeze. I'd only heard her steps earlier because she wanted me to. I was left sitting in shock. Nico had acquaintances in unlikely places. Now that I thought of it, he did indeed mention shadow traveling into a discussion of Grover's disappearance with Juniper and Leneus, although the details of the encounter were lost to my memory. Hadn't that been ages ago?

I watched as she approached him, slipping through the throng and placing a hand on his shoulder. I couldn't see his expression from this distance, but he waved everyone away and got to his feet, saying something to her in response. Nico accepted her proffered hand, using it as leverage to pull himself to his feet. She presumably bid him goodbye before returning to her tree, vanishing from sight.

Once he had made sure that no one would follow him, he began to pick his way around branches and stones as he began to walk all the way over to me. The son of Hades looked so fragile, trying to keep himself from tripping, that I wanted to help him. But I only watched sullenly, unable to muster the strength to do so. When my lesser known power fired up, it sapped my own life energy to manifest physically. In a way, it wasn't too much unlike how Nico's gifts drained him.

He finally made it across the understated minefield and slid down to the ground beside me, nestling into my side. I softened, keeping my eyes focused on his lips as he spoke. "I understand, you know. I have to keep my powers under lock and key, even in sleep, in order to maintain control. It's not your fault if you make a mistake once or twice."

"I shouldn't have hurt you." My hands were clenched together so tightly that my nails dug into my skin and drew blood. Nico gently pried them apart and wiped away the blood with with his thumb, hair falling into his eyes a bit. I sighed and lay my head on his shoulder, comforted by his breathing, which was becoming stronger every passing day. He was still warmer than usual, but however much regret the fact brought me, it still seemed to drive the ache of exhaustion from my muscles.

Something strange flickered in Nico's face, but it was gone as quickly as it had appeared. I told myself that it must've been my imagination.

* * *

**A/N: Hey guys. Changed my username to the one I use more frequently nowadays. Idk if the change went through or not but w/e. I've had this ready for a while. Finished it on the plane ride to Italy for spring break. I've been... demotivated lately. Idk. I just have my periods of general tiredness. At least Outlast 2 is cool. For any readers who've made it through my web of bs, I can't thank you enough. The fact that people are still clicking on this is actually stunning. Y'all are amazing. Stay awesome ;)**


	17. Chapter 17

**Nico's POV **

"I'm scared of what my mom will think," Will admitted, head on my shoulder. I felt his skin heat up a bit as he mentioned this, but before I could open my mouth to tell him, he shifted away. "I'm sorry. I just… it's been stressing me out lately. I'm telling her that I'm staying here with you this year, and I don't know if she'll force me to come home with her or whatever." I felt a surge of guilt. I hadn't thought about Will's worries or fears in a long time, so caught up in my own problems. So selfish.

My own voice whispered sickly sweet threats in my ears, but I ignored it and stuttered out something befitting of the situation.

"I should've been there for you. I left you to deal with this alone."

Will's eyes widened even more, if possible. "No, you've done everything right! Neeks, you're always there. You're the only one who keeps me sane."

Something he had said before registered in my brain. "Wait, you're going to stay here with me for the school year?" No sooner had I fleetingly loosened my grip on my concentration, the pain coursing through my skull slammed me like a pickup truck. It took every ounce of my will to remain stoic when I wanted to curl into a ball and wail. I recovered just quickly enough to hear his response.

"Of course. I wouldn't leave you again." Will replied. He started to move towards me again but stopped himself. "I still need some time to calm down. I'll be in the infirmary for a few hours, okay? It'd be better if you stayed away."

"I think I'll survive for a while without you. It'll be a close scrape, though." I offered him a teasing smile. "You'll be fine. I'll be there when you're ready."

"And that's why I love you." Will smiled so brightly that for one shining, glittering moment, the constant war in my head ceased. I watched as he walked back through the trees and into the infirmary, shutting the door behind him.

After confirming the tight rein I had on my power, I made my way over to Hestia. She didn't require me to speak and let me sit beside her companionably. As of late, I'd taken to sneaking out to join her at night instead of sleeping. We had an understanding. She would have company, and I would have peace.

There was something gnawing at my mind, something I kept a secret. No matter what, the void inside me would keep growing and growing, and whenever I burned myself out, it would only grow faster. There was no escaping from the darkness that would swallow me whole, unless I could be cured from this side-effect of being a demigod with demon blood. Time was my enemy right now. Tick tock tick tock tick tock.

"There's something distracting you today. More so than usual." Hestia murmured. She still took the appearance of a young girl, but there was the wisdom of ages in her fiery eyes.

"I'm afraid of losing who I am. It's just... too hard sometimes... to keep it together." I admitted. I was sure she wouldn't tell anyone. She was my confidant, like Will. But there were things I kept even from the people I loved, for fear of driving them away.

"It's your curse, isn't it, that the children of Hades fall to madness?" She asked gently, taking my hands in her own. I nodded. "You know as well as I do that your father will not allow another one of his children's minds to fall apart while it's in his power. Not this time. Not again."

"You're right, as per usual. But what of my demon blood? It's basically eating away at me from the inside, like acid. There's only so much I can take."

Hestia shook her head. "Poor boy. Such a ferocious internal conflict. And the worst of it is, you know which part of you is winning."

"I'm going to die unless I can come up with a permanent solution, aren't I?" I shuddered, shifting closer to the hearth. I knew that no matter how close I got, I wouldn't burn myself. It was a secret blessing from the ex-Olympian. I'd decided to hide this immunity from the other demigods. One had to hold at least some cards close to the chest, after all.

Hestia motioned for me to sit closer to her, and when I complied, she wrapped an arm around me comfortingly. The gesture, reminiscent of what a mother would do, made tears sting my eyes.

"Do not fear. I may not be an oracle, but I have every reason to believe you will make it through this. You are meant to be the Victorious Angel, after all. Nico di Angelo."

"I thought that my dad just had a thing for cruel irony."

"Maybe it was Fate." She smiled a secretive smile. "You should join your friends, they're waiting for you." I gave her a nod and joined them at their table.

"Who was that?" Jason asked me as I sat down, a weak smile on my face.

"Hestia," We all chorused except for him and Piper. I glanced at Leo in surprise, wondering how he would know, and then shrugged. No time to ponder the escapades of the resident fire imp right now.

"Nico, what happened in there earlier?" Annabeth nodded towards the infirmary.

"I scared Will when I woke him from a nightmare and he burned me. It was my fault, but he blames himself." I sighed. "It really messed him up."

"Messed him up? What do you mean by that?" Piper frowned.

"Did you break up? He's been avoiding everyone." Percy added. Annabeth smacked his arm, and I couldn't help but wince in sympathy.

"No! He didn't want to hurt me, so he's backing off for now. He should be okay really soon— oh, there he is!" I pointed to where Will was coming out of the infirmary. He slid into the seat next to me and flashed a quick smile at the group.

"You able to pull through without my constant presence?" He joked, looking a lot less haunted than he had a few hours ago.

"Just about made it." I beamed at him like a lovesick dope. Something horrible twisted in my chest, and my gaze flicked down to where my hand was curling into a fist against my will. After a brief power struggle, I regained control of the extremity. Luckily, Will had been too busy picking apart his hot dog to notice. I prayed that no one else had seen my grin freeze and turn into an expression of horror.

"Saw you with Hestia from the window. Do you know her well?" My boyfriend mumbled around a mouthful of food, turning his attention to me.

"We hang out sometimes." I looked at her and waved. She apparently decided to humor me and raised a hand in brief acknowledgment. "She gives good advice."

"That's cool." He inclined his head, suddenly becoming serious. I realized that our friends were all staring at us as if our discussions were prime time television. "You seem like something's bothering you, but you plan on keeping it a secret. Am I right?"

"You know me too well. It's a bit disturbing, actually. But yeah, I guess you're right." I pretended to examine my shoes.

Callie put a hand on my shoulder. "Please tell us what's wrong."

"I'd rather not dump my problems on anyone else." I muttered. Everyone must think that I find the ground very fascinating. My foot began to tap on its own accord, and I wasn't able to wrestle it into submission. Fine. The demon could have my left foot. See if I cared.

"Tell us." Piper's voice was thinly laced with charmspeak. It was the first time she'd directed it at me. What she didn't know was that I wasn't as affected as others might be because of the fact that I usually have total control of my emotions. I couldn't afford not to. Although... for the time being, Lefty the Foot was an exception. I decided to play along, just for the fun of it.

"Okay." I stared at her blankly, eyes glazed.

"Piper, if he doesn't want to tell us, don't make him." Jason intervened. "He should get to make his own choice."

"Aw, it wasn't enough to completely control him like that. He's fucking with you." Piper chuckled.

"She's right. Get annihilated, nerds." I raised my eyebrows.

"You had us going for a sec," Leo admitted. "You were doing all sorts of twitchy possessed shit. That stuff's freaky as hell, dude."

Wait, what? Oh no.

Will's eyes narrowed, reminding me of a cloudy sky. "Nico, how is it happening again? You were completely drained not so long ago!"

My frustration at being exposed spewed out of me like lava from a volcano. "I know! I'm not strong enough to fight it, okay? I'm unstable and dangerous, so you'd better stay the fuck away from me!" I was terrified by the words spilling from my lips. It wasn't me wasn't me wasn't me. I forced my legs to move, muscles straining to interpret two different sets of orders.

Something snapped. Who needed them? They were just in my way. I silently stood and walked back to my cabin, slamming the door behind me. Whatever.

"Can someone tell me what's going on?" I heard Percy say distantly. For some reason, the sound of his voice drew the real me out of my dazed stupor for a short moment.

"Please, no. Not now." I whispered to myself.

Will was hammering on my door. "Nico! Open up!"

I was flickering between myself and my demon form. My skin felt like it was being stripped from my flesh. My lungs burned, and my wings ripped through the skin on my back. They shimmered in and out of existence. I wanted to shout at him, to warn him, but I could only let out a pained gasp that bordered on a sob. My head exploded in excruciating agony.

Pause. Hold the phone. Why should I warn him? Someone needed to pay for my imprisonment. Might as well be the medic.

"I'm coming!" The door was kicked in, and Will stood, framed in the doorway and flanked by Annabeth and Leo. His eyes sought me out, and when he saw me, his face fell. "Oh no. Nico? Please say something."

"I'll rip your limbs off one by one," I snarled, then laughed. "Or would you prefer to have your entrails torn out instead?"

**Will's POV**

Honestly, I was opting for dismemberment over being gutted. But that had to wait. The sclera of Nico's eyes had turned an inky black, and looking into them was like staring at twin black holes. Empty. The boy I loved wasn't in there.

A chilling sneer contorted his icy face at my lack of response. "I can't believe I was trying to protect you." The thing masquerading as Nico let out a derisive snort. "Let's cut to the chase." With that, he lunged at me, drawing his sword out of thin air and swinging it down over my head. I flinched, preparing to die.

There was a sharp clang, and I opened my eyes to see Annabeth deflect the blow with her own weapon. "Will! Run!" She yelled.

I backed away, but refused to flee. Leo pulled his hammers from his pouch and they began to glow red-hot.

Nico rose up to the ceiling, then swept down towards the son of Hephaestus. Leo sidestepped his blade and kicked him in the stomach, sending him into the wall with a thud. Annabeth flung her dagger, pinning him by his wing. Tar-like blood oozed from the wound. The two demigods, connected by the adrenaline-fueled bond of fighting together, shared a grimly satisfied glance.

"He's still somewhere in there! Don't hurt him!" I warned.

In the corner, Nico stirred, and although he remained in demon form, his eyes were his own. "You need to burn me, or you'll lose me forever." He rasped, then coughed up distinctly human blood.

Leo nodded and moved towards him.

"Wait! He means me! Concentrated sunlight weakens him!" Fear tore icy trails in my chest. I didn't want to do it.

"Get it over with, coward!" The black film was spreading over his eyes again.

"I'm so sorry!"

"You'd better be! I'll destroy you all! The only reason you're still alive is because of my own weakness!" He struggled with renewed vigor, thrashing violently.

I channeled my fear and self-contempt and a blinding ray of light shot out of my hands and struck him in the chest. His head snapped back, and the dagger dropped with a thud as he returned to his usual form. My head spun, and I would've fallen over if Annabeth hadn't caught me. I blinked the black spots from my vision.

"Did I hurt anyone?" Nico's voice was so tiny, I barely recognized it. He looked so small and pale, just like when I'd first met him. His face was haunted.

"Do you not remember what just happened?" Leo asked suspiciously, touching his arm softly nonetheless.

"It was me. I did it. It wasn't some monster or demon... it was me." He muttered to himself, a few tears tracing their way down his cheeks.

"It wasn't you. It's part of you but it's not you." I soothed, unsteadily crouching beside him and pressing my forehead to his.

"I need to be locked up. Why are you just letting me sit here? Get some chains or something!" Fine trembles ran up and down his frame.

"I think there are some handcuffs in the Big House. I'm sure we can find something structurally strong enough to hold you." Annabeth reassured him. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. She was actually going to do it.

Some of the lines creasing Nico's brow faded. "Thank you."

"What? Don't be crazy! He's fine now, look at him!"

"Will, I really don't mean to offend, but your judgement is impaired. You love him. I get it. But if he's saying that it isn't safe to leave him where he can unleash his... other self... on the camp, we should listen. Does it escape you that he just tried to kill you?" Leo pressed as kindly as he could.

I took a few deep breaths. "Sorry for losing my head. I... get kind of loopy when I start leaking sunlight, y'know?"

"It's no big deal, man. Go with Annabeth to get the restraints. I'll keep an eye on him."

"Nice kick, by the way." Nico added.

Leo looked somewhat guilty. "Oh, uh, sorry about that."

"I didn't mention it to make you feel bad, that was genuinely a really great kick. Anyone teach you how to do that?"

"Pffft. Nah, just some OG Leo maneuvers. Thanks, though. Keep softening me up like that, and I'd be your side hoe."

"As hilarious as that is, time's a-wasting." Annabeth called.

"Right." I forced myself to turn my back on him as I followed the blonde girl across the pavilion. My emotions were a thunderstorm, a typhoon, a hurricane. It was one thing to watch your boyfriend deteriorate into a stranger, and another to have him turn into a murderous demon that thirsted for your blood.

Both were awful.

I couldn't imagine how he felt. My heart ached for him. He was afraid and I was afraid and together we were just a big jumble of negativity. Would we ever earn normal lives? Or would we be destined to live short and die young, just like so many hundreds of demigods before us?

* * *

**A/N: That's pretty much the end of the stuff I wrote like two years ago. Glad that's out of the way. I'll try to wrap this up in a few more chapters... this thing has gone on for far too long. Once I finish my preexisting full length fics, I'll finally be free to consider some ideas I've been toying with for ages now. I love feedback, so feel free to leave a review. Appreciate all of y'all, and as always, stay awesome ;)**


	18. Chapter 18

**Nico**

Something was really wrong with me. Well, aside from the whole demon thing… although that was a part of it. Suspicions flickered at the forefront of my mind, finally surfacing after remaining ignored for months on end. I glanced over at Leo, who was awkwardly whistling and tapping his foot.

"Could you stab me?"

He paused. "Uh… what? Are you about to go batshit insane again?"

"No, but I need you to stab me, like, through the arm. All the way through." I smiled encouragingly.

"Okay, how about no? Will would murder me. My conscience would be scarred. I have moral standards, you know." Leo eyed me warily.

"It's hard to explain, but I don't think I'm me. This body, I mean. The whole demon thing doesn't make sense. I never stopped to truly question it, but—" A resounding shudder tore its way up my spine, and my shadow seemed to swell ever so slightly. "Something changed, not too long before my father told me about my heritage. I suspect Aphrodite has something to do with it. I want to see just how well this body is put together." I tried to explain, then held out my arm. "Go on, do it!"

"Di Angelo, what the actual fuck? You know you sound bonkers, right?"

I widened my eyes beseechingly. "Come on, dude. Please? I've seen you pull a kitchen knife out of your tool belt."

Leo looked offended. "That's for taco meat! Not your arm! There are sanitation factors to consider!"

"On the other hand, I could go crazier and crazier until either you have to kill me or I kill everyone in the camp."

"Point noted. I have your consent, right? I don't want to get my ass kicked for doing this." He ventured, and I cheered internally.

"You won't get your ass kicked if I have anything to say about it." I held out my forearm. "Just drive it through as hard as you can. Close your eyes if you have to."

Leo slowly pulled out the knife and shook his head to himself. "I can't believe I'm doing this. I can't believe he's convinced me to do this. I can't believe I'm the rational one here." He muttered under his breath.

"Uh, quick warning, I'll probably be in a lot of pain."

"Goddammit," he mumbled again, and then raised the blade over his head and slammed it down a few inches below my left elbow.

It hurt a lot more than I thought it would, and in hindsight I realized how much of an idiot I was. A scream tore from my throat, and I heaved in gasps of air as a fiery bolt of agony surged through my veins. There was a lot of red, and that was to put it lightly. It took over a minute for me to remember where I was. Leo was on the ground beside me, ambrosia in one hand and a wad of bandages in another.

"Shit, I really don't want to face Will after this."

I coughed a few times, still dizzy with pain. "What did my bone feel like? I mean, how hard was it?"

"I don't have a baseline to compare it to! I don't make a habit of chopping people's bones in half!"

I grudgingly looked down at it to assess the damage, and we both stared. A coil of darkness pooled within the wound, and then solidified into flesh, leaving it unblemished. It was impossible, and yet we'd seen it with our own eyes. "I'm… made of my own power, yet somehow corporeal."

"I guess you were right. I mean, I was hoping that you were. Didn't want to use you as a pincushion for nothing. So what now?"

"I find my real body. Destroy this corrupt one."

"Do you think that you're mentally you? Or if your power just manifested a version of your personality. What if the real you doesn't remember anything that you've done in this body?" All questions that I'd wondered myself. For all the crap we give him, Leo is a sharp and intelligent guy. "I don't know. I guess I'll cross that bridge when I get to it."

"You mean, we." He corrected instantly.

"What?" I blinked, trying to focus on him despite the throbbing headache that I'd developed. I needed to stay in control for as long as physically possible.

"You heard me. Wherever you're going, I'm coming with you."

"It's too dangerous." I paused, turning the words over in my mouth. "I'm too dangerous."

"If you go alone, you can bet your ass that Will is gonna follow you whether you like it or not. Might as well be me who accompanies you. Plus, I'm a powerful ally to have in combat scenarios."

"Believe me, Will can pack quite a punch." I protested weakly.

Leo's gaze was clear and steady. "I'm not dissing Will or anything, but I've got a quicker recharge time and I've fought off a goddess singlehandedly. I have the experience. I have it in me to fuck your shit up if you decide to go nuts. Less romantic attachment and all that."

I mulled this over. "Right. I'll have to tell him, though."

In some bizarre twist of reality, the door opened to punctuate my statement. Will and Annabeth had returned with the handcuffs. I'd forgotten that I'd requested them.

My boyfriend stopped short, seeing the pool of blood I was sitting in. His eyes shifted over to Leo, who was still holding the knife.

"Uh, we were playing the knife game. Y'know, I've got all my fingers, the knife goes chop chop chop!" Leo grinned winningly.

"Yeah! Tons of fun!" I agreed with a far less convincing smile. "Don't worry, a lot of the blood was from the fight earlier. You won't be needing those cuffs anymore, by the way. I've got a bit of a quest to go on."

"A quest? You can't just assign yourself a quest, Nico. Especially not in your condition." Annabeth frowned, biting her lip thoughtfully. If I made a convincing argument, she'd turn a blind eye and let me sneak out.

"I can't explain it right now, but I know how to fix this." The fewer details I mentioned, the better. Will approached me and took my hands in his.

"I'm coming with you." He said with complete certainty.

From behind him, I could see Leo shift awkwardly. "It would be better for you to stay at camp. They need you here. Leo is joining me."

Will looked blindsided. "What if you lose control again? I'm the only one that can stop you! I can't just let you go off, not knowing where you are or whether you're safe."

"I think Leo and I can manage just fine together. He can take me down if things go wrong. Please, Will. You know that I love you, but there are some things we just can't do together." I implored.

He eyes seemed to bore through me as if he didn't even see me, stormy as Jason on a bad day. "Iris message me when you can, okay?"

Annabeth sighed. "I guess it's decided. I'll report you as missing in two hours, so you two should hurry up and leave. I'll tell our friends the truth."

"I need to grab a few things and say goodbye to Calypso." Leo explained as he headed towards the door. He turned to look back at Will. "I'll promise to keep your boyfriend out of trouble, Solace. As well as I can."

"Take enough ambrosia and money, alright? Drachmas and dollars. And don't forget to get enough sleep." Will murmured, enveloping me in a warm embrace. I cupped his face in my hands and rested my forehead against his.

"I won't be gone for long, Sunshine. You'll barely have time to miss me."

"The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry."

"You're such a big ol' nerd. It's no new news that what can go wrong, will go wrong."

"Which is why I'm so worried."

"It'll be okay. I'll fix everything and we can go back to normal." I promised, then remembered that Annabeth was still standing there and blushed.

"You guys are fucking adorable. Don't die." She told us, and left without another word.

"Don't die." Will repeated, and I kissed him partially to distract myself. Technically, this body would die if things went right. What if I lost my memories and didn't even warn him? He'd be crushed.

"Time to go, di Angelo." Leo reappeared in the doorway. "I've got everything we need in my belt." Where are we going to find Aphrodite?

His voice reverberated in my skull, and I was intensely reminded of how he'd died and gained the ability to speak telepathically to me as if he were a ghost. This used to be an upsetting invasion of privacy, and I could tell by the look on his face that he knew he was taking a risk. I pretended not to hear him due to Will's presence. "We'll be taking Festus."

Leo nodded, expression smoothing out. "Okay. I'll prep him for takeoff."

I turned back to Will. "Try to not worry too much. I'll try to be back in around three days."

He forced a smile. "Good luck, Neeks."

**Will**

I watched them grow smaller and smaller in the distance, until I couldn't see them anymore. The sun was beginning to set, but the afternoon heat still emanated from the dirt, as if it were alive. It wasn't too bad, especially compared to the average summer temperatures of Florida. Then again, Florida was as hot as Hades on a bad year. Not that the Underworld was particularly that hot, at least to my knowledge. Another figure of speech that I'd have to retire.

After a few more minutes, I retreated back into Nico's cabin. It was thrown into quite the disarray, and I set to work rearranging his belongings. It was more to busy myself than anything, and my hands sparked and glowed when I was around halfway done. I took a few deep breaths to calm myself.

Leo and Nico were strong, more than capable of eliminating anything that stood in their way. They knew how to handle themselves. That's not what worried me. It was Nico's hesitance to disclose what he planned on doing. The shimmer of guilt in his eyes, even as he kissed me goodbye.

True to her word, Annabeth reported the two missing demigods upon twilight. She made sure to lead Chiron and the counselors to believe that they'd only snuck away to see Vidcon.

"Leo did mention wanting to swing by for the experience," Calypso had lied helpfully, and I agreed that Nico had referred to it in passing. Everyone believed us, and it was decided that there was no need to send a search party unless they were still gone after Vidcon ended. The plan went smoothly, yet I still found myself unable to sleep long after midnight.

The walls of the Apollo Cabin seemed to hum if I held my breath and listened as carefully as I could. For all of its glimmering golden bluster, the ceiling was plain and boring to stare at. To be fair, most ceilings were.

The appearance of an Iris message scared the shit out of me. Nico and Leo seemed to be in the bathroom of a gas station. The fluorescent light was unflattering, but they appeared to be safe and well. Before they woke my siblings up, I hurried outside. The image, reminiscent of a mixture between an iPad and a cloud of vapor, followed me.

"Just letting you know, we're not dead. We ran into a couple of Scythian Dracaena upon stopping for dinner, but we…" Nico shared a grin with Leo before continuing, "really fucked them up. It was hardly fair for them."

"It was a complete massacre," The son of Hephaestus added, a manic laugh bubbling out of him. "They didn't lay a hand on either of us."

"That's good," I replied haltingly. "Are you any closer to your destination?"

"Things are moving along as expected."

"Alright. Um… I've got to go to bed. Let me know if anything happens." My concerns had been for naught. It seemed as if they were doing just fine without me.

"See you soon, Sunshine." Nico smiled and waved the message away.

* * *

**A/N: Hey, guys. Going to Europe for a while, but expect the next chapter around the beginning of August. Y'all are the best. Thanks for reading, and as always, stay awesome ;)**


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